


I Can Fix That (aka Handy Liam)

by JoMouse



Series: Tumblr Prompts [32]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Blow Jobs, Bookstore Owner Zayn Malik, Bottom Zayn Malik, Boys Kissing, Claustrophobia, Daddy Kink (mentioned), Don't copy to another site, First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Handyman Liam Payne, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing in the Rain, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mutual Pining, Public Blow Jobs (kind of), Punching, Really not as much sex as it appears, Riding, Rimming, Secret Admirer, Sick Character, Strangers to Lovers, Top Liam Payne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-11-06 18:13:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17944655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Liam gets a job as a handyman for a block of flats. Flat 5A has more than its fair share of problems.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome!
> 
> This story was started in my drafts on April 10, 2017 based on the following tumblr prompt: The new handyman’s hot so I’m gonna keep breaking stuff. 
> 
> Now, nearly two years later it is finally finished and ready to be posted for public consumption. *hides in fear*
> 
> Big, big thanks for Marie ([quietzap](http://quietzap.tumblr.com) on tumblr), Jenn and Cristina for the handholding and betaing of this beast. It would not be where it is without you!
> 
> Also, big thanks to Tricia and Lisa for reading it at different times to keep me motivated. 
> 
> This fic is completely written, but I will be posting a chapter at a time on Sundays and Wednesdays, barring any emergencies.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!!!
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Liam stood in the middle of the small room, surveying his surroundings. A workbench sagging under weight and age took up an entire wall. Above it, on the once whitewashed now yellowed with age and possibly cigarette smoke based on the smell wall, tools hung precariously from rusty metal hooks. Studying them and trying to identify each tool, there was no sense of order to where they were hung. 

The maintenance man for the Windsor Arms before him hadn’t been one for neatness and organization but had been a master at fixing anything that needed attention. After fifty years, he’d retired to the seaside at the ripe old age of seventy-five, leaving the building manager desperate for a replacement. So, when Liam’s dad had called his childhood buddy and said that Liam was looking for work and a place to stay while attending Uni in London, it was like fate had made all the arrangements ahead of time.

The only problem that Liam could see with this perfect arrangement was that he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He’d helped his dad out around the house growing up, but that was simple fixes - replacing light bulbs, oiling hinges, etc. His father would always call someone in if the problems were any bigger than that. Liam had to pray that Google would have a solution if something more serious happened in the building. Even though he was woefully unprepared for the job, he didn’t want to lose the opportunity. The flat was amazing and included as a benefit of the position. Over and above his personal comfort, he really didn’t want to embarrass his father if he failed.

After spending weeks packing and moving into the building while registering for classes and getting settled, it was finally his first day officially on the clock. He crossed his fingers nothing would go wrong as he glanced around the workshop again. Approaching the wall of tools, he pulled out his phone and began trying to identify each one. Thankfully, he’d found a fairly helpful website with photos and online chat support.

As he began organizing the tools, he heard the printer on the desk across from the workbench whir to life. Teeth digging into his lower lip, he watched the thin sheet of paper spit out the top. When the paper didn’t start screaming at him like a howler at Hogwarts, he shook himself and approached slowly.

Picking the paper up between two fingers, still waiting for it to self-destruct or start screaming at him, he squinted at the writing.  _ “Work Order Request” _ stood boldly across the top of the page. Scanning the rest of the sheet, he tried to remember all of the instructions he’d been given on how to read the requests. The upper right showed the request had come from Unit 5A and the tenant’s name was Louis Tomlinson. There was a phone number where the tenant could be reached and the best time to do so. The box was checked that Liam could let himself into the flat if no one was home. After he’d taken in all of the basic information, Liam inhaled deeply in an effort to bolster his confidence, he read over the box beneath  _ “Briefly describe the problem:”. _

“Kitchen tap leaking,” Liam read, chewing his lip again, a habit he really needed to stop, he pulled out his phone and searched for causes of leaky taps. Of the several he had found, they all seemed like they should be pretty easy fixes. He was sure there were always worst case scenarios, but he’d just have to hold onto hope this wasn’t one of those cases. Grabbing the shiny black toolbox his parents had gifted him, he opened it to double check that he had the assortment of wrenches he’d also been gifted. Glancing at the info on his phone again, he plucked a few more tools off the wall before picking up his keys and the work order.

Flat 5A was easy to find as it was located directly across from the lift. Liam only had to take two steps and a steadying breath before knocking gently on the door. He heard movement and voices from inside, but nothing seemed to be drawing closer and the door remained closed. He knocked a bit harder, hearing the voices stop, but still, the door remained closed. He debated letting himself in as the request had said it was allowed but didn’t want to be rude since the tenant was clearly at home. Scratching at the back of his neck, he debated coming back at a later time when the door opened. His jaw dropped, his planned greeting frozen on his lips. The person on the other side of the threshold seemed to be in the same predicament until a strident voice called from within the flat, bringing them both to their senses. “Well, who is it?”

The man in front of Liam tilted his head, blinking slowly. “Not sure!” he hollered back over his shoulder before letting his eyes trail down Liam’s body, stopping on the toolbox in his left hand. “Maintenance!”

“It’s Grady?” the disembodied voice shouted again.

Hazel eyes traced back up his body in a gaze strong enough to be felt like a gentle caress, raising the hairs on the back of Liam’s neck. The man let out a low whistle. “Definitely not Grady,” he mumbled before making eye contact with Liam. “Who are you?”

The direct question shook Liam from his daze. He blinked, attempting to clear his vision because there was no way he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Even after he rubbed a hand over his eyes, he came to the same conclusion he’d had when the door first opened: there was a god living in 5A. “Name’s Liam,” he managed to stutter out after the silence had gone on for too long. “New maintenance man. There was a notice sent out to the tenants. Or there was supposed to be, anyway, yeah?” 

He knew he was blathering on and snapped his mouth shut and instead offered the hand that had been scratching at his neck. He tried to smile warmly but could feel his lips forming some kind of awful grimace. He felt his face flush as the god slipped his warm hand into his. 

“Zayn.” 

Liam gaped because, of course, the beautiful man had a unique and exotic sounding name. He made a mental note to look up the meaning later.

Just as Liam opened his mouth to ask about the tap, a shorter man with hair that was sticking up all over his head, causing him to resemble a hedgehog, appeared behind Zayn. “Well, let him in already!” he shouted in the voice that Liam had heard earlier.

He shoved Zayn out of his way, making Liam let go of the hand he hadn’t realized he was still holding. Then he grabbed for Liam’s toolbox and yanked it out of his sweaty grasp causing him to fall into Zayn. The two of them tumbled to the ground, Liam landing atop Zayn and causing them both to lose their breath. At the rate this visit was going, he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen to his brain before he even laid eyes on the broken tap. 

“Hi,” Zayn managed around a chuckle and Liam repeated the greeting back in a whisper, his face warm with the blush he knew he couldn’t hide but was tempted to try by burying his face in Zayn’s neck.

“If you’re done molesting my flatmate, would you mind doing your job, now?” the shorter man that must have been Louis snapped, but when Liam looked up he saw a sparkle of mischief in his eyes; this one was going to be trouble, he could tell.

Liam scrambled to his feet, careful not to jostle Zayn too much before clasping his hand and helping him to his feet as well. He watched as his toolbox disappeared with the other man, suddenly thankful he hadn’t managed to hit Zayn with it. When Liam felt a pressure on his palm, he realized that although he hadn’t managed to assault Zayn too badly, he was still holding his hand.

“Sorry,” he muttered, looking down at his feet, hand returning to the back of his neck.

“S’alright. Just ignore Louis. He’s a bit of a...,” Zayn let the sentence trail off as he turned and headed out of the entryway. He stopped after a few steps looking back at Liam over his shoulder. “C’mon. The problem’s this way and we don’t want to give him a chance to try and fix the tap by himself.” Zayn winked at Liam over his shoulder prompting him to giggle at the joke. He definitely could see the relationship between the two men was a good one despite the insults. 

Liam followed, racing over and grabbing a wrench out of Louis’ hand as he began to swing it down towards the tap. “I’m not a plumber, but I’m pretty certain banging it is only going to make it worse,” he said before turning towards the basin and looking it over. He quickly discovered that it was most definitely one of the problems he’d read about before coming upstairs. “I can fix that,” he said confidently, looking at Zayn who gave him a bright smile.

Although it was an easy fix, Liam worked for well over an hour. Part of the issue was that he’d forgotten to turn off the water supply before removing the handle of the faucet, causing water to spray up and hit the ceiling. He was just relieved that Zayn had left the room before that had happened, although Louis didn’t stop taking the piss out of him the entire time. Another reason it had taken so long was that Louis had named himself Liam’s assistant and kept handing him the wrong tools. After the third time, he was convinced that Louis wasn’t an idiot who didn’t know the difference between a pipe wrench and a chisel, but rather a twat whose new life goal was to make Liam miserable. 

When he finally finished, Louis immediately used the sink to fill up a tea kettle and turned it on before disappearing out of the room without a word. Liam shrugged and began cleaning up his tools. He glanced around the room trying to find something to clean up the water from the earlier mishap but didn’t see anything immediate. He was just about to call out to Louis to ask when Zayn appeared in the doorway with a couple of towels and a slight smirk on his face.

“Louis told me what happened,” he said, dropping to the floor next to Liam and began sopping up the water. Liam grabbed the second towel and worked silently. “So, what happened to Grady? He didn’t kick it, did he?”

“Retired,” Liam assures, standing to wring out the towel into the sink before kneeling again. 

“So, are you a temp or…” Zayn asked, trailing off the sentence as he stood and wrung out his towel, draping it over the edge of the basin.

“Well, I hope to stay until I finish Uni, but I’m afraid they’ll throw me out when they realize I don’t really know what I’m doing,” Liam admitted, slapping a hand over his mouth as soon as the words had slipped out.

Zayn traced a finger over the tap in a manner Liam shouldn’t have found sensual but did as he imagined Zayn’s fingers caressing him like that. Turning the tap on and off quickly, he smirked at Liam. “It’s fixed.” Liam pointed to the floor and the still damp ceiling. Zayn shrugged before taking his towel. “Looks like a really clean and dry floor.”

“Thanks,” Liam said, smiling as he stood wiping his hands off on his jeans. He picked up his toolbox just as the kettle whistled loudly bringing Louis running back into the room and giving Liam’s toolbox a disgusted look.

“You’re not staying for tea?” he asked, reaching into a cabinet and pulling out three mugs.

Liam was tempted, but he was afraid if he allowed himself to stay, he’d wind up making a complete fool of himself, so he made excuses and headed for the door. Once he was out of the flat and into the lift, he let his head fall against the wall with a groan. “Never ever will I be able to do this job,” he said to himself. Although knowing Zayn lived in the building made his desire to keep his job, and the flat that came within, grow tremendously.  

The following Friday afternoon, Liam dragged himself into the workshop after a long day of classes, relieved the pager hadn’t gone off with any emergency pages because he had no clue what he would’ve done if he’d gotten one in class. He groaned when he looked over at the printer and saw the stack of work orders that were there waiting for him. Settling at his desk with the stack, he started prioritizing them. 

About halfway through the stack, he stopped when he saw a familiar unit number and glancing at the tenant name, his lips quirked as they traced over the letters spelling out Zayn Malik. He smiled as he remembered looking up the name to discover that it was Arabic and meant beautiful or graceful king. The name fit the god in 5A, there was no doubt. He read over the problem and sighed when he realized that a stuck drawer would need to be pushed to the end of the queue. 

Liam grabbed his toolbox and set out to get through the list and to Zayn’s request as quickly as possible. He didn’t stop working until after eight that night but was unable to get to Zayn’s request, having been stuck working on a garbage disposal for a quite lovely, but very chatty, elderly woman on the first floor. He went to bed that night feeling terrible that he hadn’t finished the stack of work orders, but even worse that he hadn’t been able to use them as an excuse to see Zayn.

Saturday morning, he rose early, went for a run and then came back to shower before beginning on the stack of work orders again. He noticed there were a couple more on the printer when he stopped by the workshop. All of them were a higher priority than what had been left from the day before, so Liam reorganized the stack and began working.

He stopped for a quick lunch, having made decent progress and took the time to call his parents to check in, smiling when he heard the pride in his dad’s voice when he spoke of how busy he was. He chuckled as his father grew more excited with every detailed description of repairs that Liam gave, shushing his mum when she warned him that he would not be attempting any repairs around the house.

After about ten minutes, he hung up feeling both more and less homesick than when he’d picked up the phone. He still managed to keep a smile on his face as he headed up to the fourth floor and a clogged shower drain.  

It wasn’t until after six that Liam smiled down at the single sheet of paper in his hands. He forewent the lift for the stairs, running up three flights and catching his breath before knocking on the door. He knocked twice but heard nothing from inside. Glancing down at the work order, he saw the box ticked giving him permission to let himself in, so he pulled out his master key and did just that.

The flat was dark, save for a light in the kitchen, so Liam carefully made his way there, smiling when he saw the sticky note on one of the drawers with a big black “x” drawn on it. He reached out, tugging on the handle, tilting his head when it only came out a couple of inches before getting stuck. Dropping to his knees, he opened the cabinet beneath and used a torch to check the drawer slide, but saw nothing that would inhibit movement. 

Raising up a bit taller, he shined the light into the drawer, finally seeing the problem; something was standing taller than the opening, blocking the drawer. Trying to fit his hand inside was impossible, there just wasn’t enough room and he ended up scraping his knuckles. He twisted his lips as he studied the drawer some more, shaking his hand in some foolish attempt to relieve the pain. His gaze trailed over the top of the counter, falling on a ceramic pitcher filled with wooden kitchen utensils, snapping his fingers, Liam chuckled to himself. “I can fix that.”

Once he’d used the handle of a wooden spoon to dislodge the blockage, he opened the drawer fully and pulled out the offending object. He laughed as he stared down at the Green Lantern magnet that sat in his palm. Setting it on the counter, he opened his toolbox and removed one of his  _ “While You Were Out” _ notes, checking off boxes and filling the blanks quickly with the date and time of his visit and the solution to the problem. 

With a wide smile, he used the magnet he’d pulled from the drawer to attach the bright orange note to the front of the refrigerator. He tapped the magnet, starting to turn away when his eye was drawn to the collection of photos that decorated the door. Zayn and Louis were prominent in most of them, but there were a few where only one of them stood with people that must be their families. A tall, skinny lad with long hair featured in a good deal of the photos as well and Liam wondered if there was another flatmate.

His eyes froze when they fell on one photo in particular; it was taken at the beach, the sun was really bright because Zayn was squinting at the camera while Louis pressed a kiss to his cheek. The smile on Zayn’s face was open and bright, his tongue pressing against the back of his teeth. Liam swallowed hard as he realized that the god in 5A had a boyfriend; a boyfriend that was serious enough that they shared a flat.

His mood instantly grew bleak as Liam quickly washed the wooden spoon he’d used and returned it to its home on the counter. He closed his toolbox and made his way to the door, jumping a bit when it opened before he could grasp the doorknob. Louis let out a bit of a scream when the door opened completely, nearly dropping the bags he had in his arms.

“Liam!” Louis shouted, recovering quickly as he pushed past him toward the kitchen. “Did you get the drawer fixed?”

“Uh, yeah. There was a magnet stuck in it,” he said, inching towards the door. 

“A magnet. Weird,” Louis snickered. Liam was glad Louis found the situation amusing as he grabbed the doorknob to leave. “You’re leaving?”

“Drawer’s fixed. Job’s done,” Liam told him.

“But I got takeaway and Zayn’ll be home any minute. Stay,” Louis said.

Liam was surprised by the offer and shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got to get back. I’ve got homework.”

“It’s Saturday and you have to eat.”

“Thanks, but I really gotta go,” Liam said, pulling the door open and escaping across the hall into the waiting lift.

When the doors opened on the ground floor, Liam stepped out and turned left towards the workshop, stopping when he spied a package lying in front of the door. Setting his toolbox down, he picked it up scanning his name in simple block letters on the front. Flipping it over, he found no indication of where it had come from.

With a shrug, he unwrapped the gift carefully to reveal a book. The cover was a close up of a wrench around a copper pipe with the title  _ Plumbing _ in the upper right corner. It looked old and a bit beat up. He opened it, checking the copyright date:  _ 1989\.  _ He tried to figure out who the book was from, but there was nothing written anywhere. With a small smile, he unlocked the workshop, grabbed his toolbox and headed inside. Once he settled at his desk, he opened the book and began to read.

***

Zayn exited the stairwell just as the lift doors closed. There were days the five flights of stairs got to be too much, that day was one of those days, but he still didn’t want to risk getting on the lift. He’d gotten caught in there for five and a half hours the day he and Louis had moved in. It wasn’t an experience he ever wanted to repeat. With a glare at the closing lift doors, he let himself into the flat, smelling curry and smiling widely.

“Honey, I’m home!” he called out, laughing as he hung his keys on the hooks next to the door. He picked up the mail from the shelf beneath them and sorted through it. He saw a card from his mum and opened it quickly, shaking his head at the pound notes that fluttered out. He was thankful for the small monetary gifts his mum insisted on sending, but he was really doing fine at his used bookstore.

Louis glanced over the back of the sofa at him, his eyes already watery from the too-spicy-for-him curry that he insisted on eating. “You missed Liam.”

“Yeah?” Zayn said distractedly as he read the note in the card updating him on his parents and sisters. “Drawer fixed?”

“Yep.”

“What was wrong with it?” Zayn tucked the card into the messenger bag still draped over his shoulder before heading into the kitchen and testing the drawer. He glanced at the fridge for any phone messages and stopped when he saw the bright orange note. He pulled it off the door, quirking an eyebrow at the magnet that had held it. “You found the Green Lantern magnet.”

“Kind of,” Louis called back. “Liam found it stuck in the drawer.” He appeared behind him, heading to the fridge and pulling out the milk pouring them both glasses before gulping his down quickly and refilling it.

“How did it end up in the drawer?” Zayn asked rhetorically as he smiled at Liam’s slightly messy handwriting, slipping it into the bag with the card. He dropped the bag on one of the kitchen chairs before filling the plate Louis had left out for him.

“Don’t know,” Louis mumbled quickly exiting the room, drawing Zayn’s attention to his strange behaviour.

“What did you do?” he asked as he followed Louis to the sofa, dropping down as Louis queued up the episode of  _ The Walking Dead _ from a few nights previous.

“Shhh. Daryl’s on,” Louis responded, fixated on the screen.

Zayn rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his food, but his mind on the note and the handsome handyman that was quite possibly living somewhere in their building. Grady had said he’d started out living in a small flat in the basement before starting a family and moving into a larger flat on the second floor. He wondered if Liam was in the basement flat, or possibly out of the building somewhere. A part of him really hoped he wasn’t in the basement, there weren’t many windows down there, so he couldn’t imagine it was very pleasant there at all.

“Holy shit!” Louis shrieked and Zayn’s attention was drawn back to the television screen just as Lucille connected with the skull of the last person he wanted to see die.

“Well, that sucks,” Zayn muttered as he tried to focus on the rest of the episode, but at the back of his mind were a pair of chocolate eyes and a soft voice saying, _ “I can fix that.” _ _ _


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday!
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the feedback and support on chapter one! I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much. 
> 
> Today, something else is going wrong in 5A and we get a peek into Liam's flat.
> 
> xx-Joey

A couple of weeks passed and Liam kept busy between school and the building. One of his neighbours, a young man named Harry, had dropped by one evening with a plate full of cupcakes and a big smile. He’d not really been able to get rid of him since but didn’t mind the company in the evenings if he was being honest. The only thing that bothered him was that he felt like he knew Harry from somewhere and just couldn’t figure out where, but was too embarrassed to ask.

He’d seen Zayn only once. Liam had been hurrying out the door to class and Zayn was checking his mail. They’d exchanged quick greetings before Liam really had to go; he didn’t even regret being a few minutes late for class. On the other hand, he’d seen Louis several times hanging out in the lobby. He began to wonder if the boy was without a job or anything else to keep him busy. They would always chat for a few minutes, but Liam would make excuses and leave before Louis could invite him over again.

More books had shown up in front of the workshop door, still with no indication who they were from. Liam looked them up and found out they were from a series of books released in the eighties by Time Life. Each one that came in, he studied over before stacking it on top of the file cabinet in the corner of the workshop. One day, the book he received was titled  _ Shelves and Cabinets  _ and he took the time to build a shelf behind his desk. He nervously lined the books up, saddened when they fell over, but thankful when the shelf didn’t collapse. He tilted his head at the fallen books; maybe he could find some bookends.

He was just starting to leave the workshop to take a shower when he heard the printer whir to life. Technically, as long as the pager didn’t go off as well, he could ignore the work order until the next day, but he didn’t have any plans until later on in the evening so he crossed to the printer just as the pager went off. He glanced at the message on the pager to make sure it matched up to the work order. It did, a clogged toilet in 5A. Shaking his head, he grabbed his toolbox, sliding the  _ Plumbing  _ book inside, as well as a plunger and set out for the lift.

He was barely out of the lift on the fifth floor when the door to 5A swung open, a distressed looking Zayn greeting him. “Wow, you’re even faster than Grady,” he said, his voice tight as he shoved the door open further to allow Liam to enter.

“Was walking out of the workshop when the page came in,” Liam explained, pointing to the hallway with a questioning tilt to his head. When Zayn nodded, Liam made his way to the bathroom. The floor had obviously been cleaned, so he looked to Zayn. 

“It flooded once, so we turned off the water.” He pointed to a knob behind the toilet. “Then we cleaned up the mess, but I fully expect to have another one by the time you’re done.” Liam felt a bit hurt by the statement, but the smile on Zayn’s face told him he wasn’t saying it to be mean.

“I’ll do my best to keep things clean.” He noticed the water level had gone down some which meant it wasn’t a complete blockage, so hopefully the plunger would be enough to get it out so he wouldn’t have to attempt to remove the toilet from its base or drag up the snake. He’d spent hours studying the instructions in the book for that intimidating piece of equipment and was still completely clueless. “Any ideas what happened?”

“It was working fine when I left for work this morning, but when I came home Louis said it was stopped up.” 

“I can fix that,” Liam said confidently, getting used to saying the phrase and actually believing it. “I’ll try to be quick so you don’t have to hold it too long,” he joked. Zayn’s face flushed a bit and his eyes darted to the ceiling. “What?” Liam asked, smiling as he admired the abashed look. 

“May have had a wee in the sink,” he whispered, making Liam laugh. “Hey! It could’ve been worse - I had to stop Louis from using the plant in the front room!”

“Plants need water,” Liam said with a shrug, still laughing.

“It’s artificial!” Zayn said back, laughing.

Liam looked up from where he was fitting the plunger into the bowl when Zayn’s laughter suddenly died. He noted the slightly pained expression on his face and the hand pressed to his stomach. “What’s wrong?”

Zayn took a deep breath, a mild sweat breaking out on his forehead. “How long do you think it’ll take to fix?”

“Probably less than a half hour, it depends what is stuck and how stuck,” Liam said, hoping he sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

“I have to go,” he said, biting into his lower lip.

“I can lock up when I’m done.”

“No, I mean I have to use the toilet,” Zayn countered.

“I can step out so you can use the sink,” Liam offered, starting to leave.

“No, I have to  _ go _ ,” Zayn gritted out.

“Oh shit,” Liam said. 

“Exactly,” Zayn gasped out, eyes wide.

Liam tossed the massive amounts of keys he carried to him. “Two floors and you can get to my flat. 3C. It’s the one with the Batman keyring.”

Zayn barely breathed out his thanks before he ran out, Liam hearing the door slam behind him. With a second thought that he was letting a virtual stranger into his flat with all of his and the entire building’s keys, he turned back to the toilet, hoping to get it fixed quickly and not be robbed blind before he was done.

***

Zayn raced down the stairs to the third floor and quickly let himself into Liam’s flat, tossing the keys on the floor and racing towards the bathroom without taking much notice of his surroundings or if the door had even closed behind him. When he was done, he washed his hands, chuckling as he dried his hands on a Batman hand towel. He glanced around the room and realized that Batman seemed to be the running theme and that reminded him of the keys.

When he hurried back into the front room, he was startled to see someone standing there, holding the keys in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. He started laughing when he realized who the person was: Louis’ boyfriend. “Harry, what are you doing in Liam’s flat?”

“What are  _ you _ doing in his flat?” Harry questioned, smiling slightly as he lowered the bat. “Where’s Liam?”

“Upstairs fixing the toilet and I really had to go, so he gave me his keys to use his,” Zayn said, reaching for the keys. A part of him had been hoping to explore Liam’s flat a bit, but now that Harry was there, he wasn’t sure he could get away with it. “Where’s Lou? He said he was going to yours to use your toilet.”

“He did and I was leaving for the shops when I saw Liam’s door standing open and the keys on the floor. I knocked but no one responded, so I grabbed the bat Liam keeps in the closet,” Harry explained. “If everything‘s good, I’ll get going then.” He returned the bat and walked out the door. Zayn hadn’t even taken a breath when Harry stuck his head back through the door. “I’m making dinner tonight. You should come. Around six,” Harry told him.

“Sure. I wasn’t planning to go in tonight,” Zayn said, waving as Harry disappeared again. He stuck his head into the hallway after a moment to make sure Harry was really gone before he let his curiosity get the best of him. 

Glancing through the sitting room, there were school books spread over the coffee table and Zayn poked through them. There was a math book with a ridiculous amount of notes stuck inside, the handwriting messy and conveying frustration. Those notes were nothing compared to the ones he saw inside a copy of  _ Slaughterhouse Five _ , pages of the same handwriting, more lines crossed out than not. The few he was able to read were good thoughts but worded poorly and with a few made-up words here and there. Although it was a disorganized mess, it was definitely interesting and Zayn found himself settling onto the sofa to read over Liam’s writing, comparing his words to those on the pages they were stuck between.

He must have lost track of time because he was startled by a knock at the door and someone calling his name. Jumping to his feet, he dropped the book on the table and hurried to the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw Liam glancing up and down the hall, hand pressed to the back of his neck, much like the first time he’d seen him. Zayn pulled the door open hurriedly, apology freezing on his lips when Liam let out a sigh of relief and moved the hand from his neck to Zayn’s arm.

“Are you alright?” His voice and eyes held a great deal of concern.

“Yeah, I, er…” Zayn backed up to let Liam in, watching as he set down his toolbox. He knelt and opened it quickly before standing again and holding out both hands. “What is that?” He poked at the collection of colourful sponges in Liam’s hands.

“The culprits,” Liam explained with a chuckle. “Somehow a jungle safari moved into your toilet and blocked it up.” Zayn jerked his hand away suddenly, realizing where those sponges had been. “I washed them pretty thoroughly, but I had to show you because I figured you would never believe me.” He stood and crossed into the kitchen, Zayn trailing behind him. Once there, he opened a cabinet and disposed of them in the rubbish bin inside. “Any idea how they got there?”

Zayn tried to concentrate but was distracted when Liam pulled off the flannel shirt he was wearing over his vest, leaving his biceps on display as he passed by Zayn again heading towards the bedrooms. He debated following for a moment, but then he heard Liam call out. “I’m going to jump in the shower really quick. I’ve got dinner plans with a neighbour. You’re welcome to hang out or go back to yours. I grabbed your keys from the hook by the door, they’re in my toolbox.”

“I’m gonna head back upstairs. Got dinner plans myself! Thanks for letting me use your loo!” Zayn shouted, grabbing his keys and letting himself out when his only response was the sound of water running, and possibly singing, coming from the bathroom.

Zayn went up the stairs and entered his flat, heading to take a shower of his own, mind going over the sponges Liam had found in the toilet, something familiar about them nagging the back of his mind. He was tossing out an empty toothpaste tube when a bright coloured package in the bin caught his eye. Leaning down, he picked it up, eyes widening as he recognized one of the items Louis had bought to keep his youngest siblings entertained when they came to visit.  _ Magic Grow Safari Animals _ stood out on the package and all twelve of the bubbles that used to hold capsules were now empty. Zayn thought back and specifically remembered Louis only allowing Ernie and Dorie to use one each the last time they had visited. 

As Zayn finished getting ready to go to Harry’s for dinner, his mind tried really hard not to believe what was right in front of his face. Was Louis really trying to break things around the flat so that Liam would have to come to fix them? What about Harry? Were things alright between the two of them or was Louis being an arse and looking for something on the side. He let out a groan as his mind tried to untangle the puzzle growing inside his brain. The worst thought he had was,  _ “Why Liam?” _ The whole situation made him feel like he wasn’t allowed to have nice things, especially with Louis around. 


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday!
> 
> I'm thankful I'm able to post this early because I am at work and had to figure out the mobile hotspot on my phone to connect to the internet just to be able to post today before midnight. The things I do to keep to a schedule. LOL.
> 
> Well, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far (thank you to everyone who has kudo'd and commented). A few of you guessed what was coming in this chapter, but I hope you still enjoy it and like how things are progressing between our favourite Handyman and his adorable tenant.
> 
> See you Wednesday!
> 
> xx-Joey

Liam finished with his hair and then went into the kitchen to grab the bottle of wine he’d picked up on the way home from class. When he’d told his mum that Harry had invited him over for dinner, she’d started lecturing him on proper etiquette and didn’t stop until he’d actually sent her a picture of himself holding the bottle of wine. As he stood outside of Harry’s flat, his hand raised in the air to knock, he hesitated. He liked Harry, he was friendly and good to talk to, but he wasn’t interested in Harry and he hoped this was just a friendly invite. If it wasn’t, he’d have to make sure to set boundaries right away. With a deep breath, he knocked.

“‘Bout time you got he- Oh!” Louis said, staring open-mouthed at Liam.

Liam glanced at the number on the door to make sure he hadn’t somehow subconsciously ended up in front of Zayn’s door, but it clearly said 3D on the door. “Er, is Harry home?” Liam asked, feeling awkward standing there with the wine in his hand and Louis gaping at him without speaking.

“Who is it?” Harry’s voice carried from the kitchen before he appeared in the doorway. “Liam! Glad you could make it. Lou, let him in,” Harry said, grabbing Louis around the waist and moving him out of the way so Liam could enter.

“Hey, Harry,” Liam said, giving Louis a questioning look.

“Don’t mind him.” Harry started to close the door, stopping when fingers wrapped around the edge of it.

A moment later, Zayn stepped into the room, closing the door behind himself. “Hey, Har-Liam? I thought you had dinner plans. Harry, did you set fire to the kitchen again?”

“That was one time!” Harry objected.

“Two times,” Louis corrected, grinning at Liam.

“Ignore them,” Zayn said moving closer to Liam. “Seriously, though, I thought you had plans with your neighbour.”

“Hey, Zayn,” Liam responded, chewing his lower lip and rubbing at the back of his neck. Confusion must have been evident on his face because Harry started laughing. “Er, well, Harry is the neighbour I had plans with.”

“Clearly, introductions are not necessary,” Harry interrupted, cutting the tension a bit before disappearing back into the kitchen with Louis trailing after him, asking questions.

“So, you know Harry?” Liam said after the awkward silence dragged on, both of them looking everywhere except at each other.

“He’s Louis’ boyfriend,” Zayn replied. He pointed at the wine in Liam’s hand. “For Harry?”

“What?” He glanced down at the bottle in confusion. He’d honestly forgotten about it entirely; thankfully, he hadn’t dropped it. “Yeah, it is. My mum insisted.” He flushed, realizing he’d been the only one to bring anything.

Zayn jerked his head toward the kitchen. “Let’s go get some glasses before Louis gets his hands on it and finishes it off.” He smiled when Liam moved to follow him.

Liam stayed in the doorway to the kitchen, his body a confusing swirl of thoughts and emotions as he observed Zayn joking around with Louis and Harry. He imagined if they were visible, his insides would look a bit like one of those paintings by Munch. He was relieved to find out Zayn and Louis weren’t dating, but that just increased his anxiety around Zayn. He wasn’t sure how to act without coming across as too forward or flirtatious. He didn’t want to put himself out there like that only to discover that Zayn wasn’t into men. Liam really hated having the worst gaydar on the planet.

He blinked when he realized Zayn was waving a hand in front of his face and trying to take the wine bottle from him. “Earth to Major Liam,” he said, smiling.

“Sorry. Long day,” he muttered, looking at the floor as he let Zayn take the bottle and pour everyone a glass. He laughed out loud when Zayn stole the bottle away from Louis and put it atop the fridge where the shorter man couldn’t reach. He felt himself relaxing slightly the longer the laughter and teasing went on, especially since it wasn’t aimed at him.

“It’s going to be a few more minutes,” Harry said as he held up a spoonful of sauce for Louis to try. “Why don’t you two go sit on the sofa with your wine while we finish up in here.”

“I could set the table,” Liam offered.

“On it,” Louis interrupted, reaching into a drawer and pulling out silverware, waving it around, dropping half of it to clatter to the floor.

Zayn pulled Liam out of the room when he tried to pick up the dropped flatware. He stood awkwardly once Zayn settled on the sofa, debating whether he should sit next to him or take the armchair. He must’ve taken too long to decide because Zayn stood and guided him to the sofa before settling next to him, leaving enough space between them that Liam didn’t feel uncomfortable.

The silence between them stretched until Zayn finally spoke. “As much as I hate to admit to being a nosey bugger, I saw schoolbooks on your coffee table.”

“Yeah, I just started Uni. Took a gap year to travel. It turned into four.” Liam flushed. “I probably would’ve gone longer, but money was running out.” That was a better explanation than what had really happened.

“Where did you go?” Zayn asked, turning to face Liam, his knee pressing against Liam’s thigh.

“Everywhere.” Liam chuckled at Zayn’s quirked eyebrow. “Okay, not really, but most of Europe and the UK. Ventured into Russia for a bit.” He stopped talking for a moment as he remembered how quickly he’d left Russia after a falling out with Koldan who had been his travelling companion, and more, or so he thought, for nearly a year. He’d really believed there had been something serious between the two of them, despite the language barrier, until they’d gone back to his hometown of Sochi and met his fiancée, a lovely girl named Agnessa.

“Hey,” Zayn’s voice was gentle, as was the finger that tapped the tip of Liam’s nose to bring him back to the present. “Favourite place you visited?”

“The Isle of Tears in Minsk,” Liam declared without hesitation.

“Doesn’t sound like a very cheery place,” Zayn joked.

“It wasn’t, but it was what I needed.” It was the place he’d run to after the heartbreak of meeting Agnessa. He’d been sleeping in a hostel in a city near the Russia/Belarus border when he’d heard someone talking about the memorial. The name spoke to him, so he headed there, spending an entire day on the Isle, allowing his tears to fall freely. Many who saw him offered sympathetic looks and touches although they had no idea why he was crying. After that, he made the decision it was time to get on with his life. He left his heartbreak on the Isle and swore never to cry over Koldan or allow another person to get that close again.

“I have a feeling there’s more to that story,” Zayn observed, his voice quiet. “I’m not going to pry though.”

“Thank you,” Liam whispered just as Harry called them to the table. Zayn patted him on the shoulder as he stood, distracting Harry and Louis, allowing Liam a moment to collect himself.

The rest of the evening passed quickly and when Liam noticed it was nearly ten o’clock, he swallowed down panic. “I have to go.” He stood quickly from the sofa, his head swimming a bit from the wine they’d drank - three bottles between the four of them.

“What’s wrong?” Louis asked from where he lounged in Harry’s lap.

“I have a rough draft for a lit paper due at eight tomorrow and I haven’t even started it,” Liam sputtered.

“ _Slaughterhouse Five?”_ Zayn asked, attempting to get to his feet, but managing to just scramble awkwardly after Liam towards the door.

“Yeah,” Liam threw over his shoulder. “And my notes are a mess and my teacher is going to kill me.” He rubbed at his neck. “Thanks for dinner, Harry!” he called towards the living room. “I’ll return the favour soon.”

He hurried down the hall surprised when he felt a tap on his shoulder as he unlocked his door. “Zayn?”

“I can help,” he explained, looking at his hands that were twisting nervously in front of himself. “With your paper. I read your notes.” Liam’s face flushed and he could feel his entire body flood with embarrassment that Zayn now knew just how stupid he was. “I know. Total invasion of privacy. I’m sorry, but it’s one of my favourite books and your notes were good - a bit messy - but good.” Liam gave him a disbelieving look. “Seriously, I majored in English. I can help.”

Liam found himself nodding before his brain had even caught up completely with what Zayn was saying. He let Zayn follow him into the flat and they settled down in the sitting room to try to make something passable out of Liam’s notes. They worked until about one in the morning, stopping once for some water and a couple of Twister ice creams from Liam’s freezer before getting to work again.

Liam finished saving the document on his laptop, slightly impressed with what he and Zayn had been able to come up with when he heard a soft snore. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Zayn had stretched out on the sofa, head resting on one arm, and fallen asleep. With a soft smile, Liam rose and pulled the afghan his mum had made off the back, covering Zayn with it before heading into his room to go to bed.

***

Zayn groaned as he heard his alarm going off on his phone. He felt like he’d barely slept, couldn’t even remember getting into bed the night before. Rolling over for his phone, he promptly fell to the floor with a yelp and a thud. Footsteps thundered toward him followed by laughter that didn’t match that of his arsehole flatmate. Blinking, he glanced over his shoulder at Liam who was dressed in a pair of low slung grey joggers and nothing else. Zayn swallowed heavily as he looked around the room, trying to ignore Liam’s appearance as well as his laughter.

It took a few moments of glancing around before he remembered stretching out on Liam’s sofa the night before. He must’ve fallen asleep and if the blanket that was currently tangled around his body, inhibiting him from standing with any sense of dignity was any indication, Liam had covered him and left him to sleep. “Sod off,” he finally muttered, feeling a bit badly when Liam’s laughter choked off. “Sorry,” he grumbled before looking up and seeing Liam’s retreating form, bleary eyes attempting to trace the hard lines of the muscles in his back. Zayn had never realized that backs could be attractive.

Once he’d managed to disentangle himself from the throw, he folded it and laid it on the sofa. Checking his phone, he was grateful for the text from Louis saying he had stayed at Harry’s the night before and then gone straight to his six o’clock shift, meaning he wouldn’t have noticed that Zayn hadn’t gone home the night before. Stretching his arms over his head, his nose twitched as the aroma of fresh coffee and something sweet wafted from the direction of the kitchen. He debated sneaking out of the flat and avoiding Liam entirely, but before he could make a move to grab his shoes, Liam reappeared with a mug in his hand and a smile on his face.

“I’m guessing you aren’t a morning person,” he teased, holding the mug out to Zayn who took it appreciatively. “I’ve got chocolate chip pancakes as well if you’re hungry. I’m not even sure if you have somewhere to be or what time you need to be there, but I figure you have to eat something before you do anything.”

Zayn took a long sip of the coffee, savouring the burn as it went down his throat. He could practically feel the caffeine flowing through his veins waking him up slowly. “I don’t have to be anywhere until around ten and pancakes sound amazing, thank you.” He glanced at the clock on the DVD player, noting that it was almost eight, a memory of something Liam had said the night before slamming into the forefront of his mind. “You’re gonna be late for class!”

Liam chuckled. “Technically, I would be if I hadn’t emailed the rough draft to my professor this morning and said I was feeling poorly. He said I should just stay home because no one wants to get sick.” He ducked his head as Zayn gaped at him.

“And you feel proper guilty for lying, don’t you?” Zayn needled, laughing when Liam gave a slight nod. “Then why did you?”

“I didn’t want to wake you,” he confessed before turning back and disappearing into the kitchen.

Zayn followed, sitting across from Liam. He took a huge bite of the pancakes on his plate and let out a moan. “Marry me,” he mumbled around the mouthful before he could stop himself.

“Nah, I want someone who loves me for more than my cooking,” Liam responded, blinking both eyes at Zayn, which he realized after a moment was supposed to be a cheeky wink.

“So noted.” They continued to eat in silence, Zayn watching Liam from under his lashes until his phone went off again. He headed into the other room to turn it off. “That’s my ‘get your lazy arse moving’ alarm,” he explained to Liam who was standing by the sofa looking like he wasn’t sure what to do or say. “Thanks for breakfast and letting me sleep.”

Liam stared at his feet and Zayn was suddenly hit with the overwhelming feeling of standing on a front porch after a first date wondering if he should try to sneak a kiss, but that was ridiculous because Liam probably wasn’t even into guys like that. “Thanks for helping with my paper.”

“Anytime, seriously,” Zayn told him reaching out to tap Liam’s upper arm gently before slipping into his shoes and heading towards the door. “See you soon?” He hoped he didn’t sound as eager as he felt for the answer to that question to be yes.

Liam had followed him to the door, holding it open as he stepped into the hall, but still not looking at him. “Depends how well your flat holds up, yeah?”

Zayn’s heart fell. Of course. Liam was the handyman. Zayn was the tenant. No more than that. “Yeah,” Zayn muttered, heading down the hall towards the stairwell, refusing to look back, not knowing which would be worse: Liam looking after him or not.

***

Liam watched Zayn disappear down the hall, bypassing the lift. When the door to the stairwell hid him from view, Liam pulled back into his flat and closed the door leaning his forehead against it with a groan. Now that Zayn had left, Liam was at a loss for what he should be doing. He wasn’t due to start work until later in the day because of classes, but he’d gotten out of his only class that day, so now he stood in the foyer of his flat and stared at the wall. Pushing away from the door, he wandered into the kitchen to clean up and finished off his coffee. When he was done, he decided to head down to the workshop. He could continue organizing the room and keep an eye on the printer at the same time.

Dressing quickly, Liam made his way down to the lobby to check his mail first. He ran into Harry who gave him a broad grin and asked how the rough draft had gone. “Better than I thought,” Liam admitted, leaving out Zayn’s part in that, not sure why he didn’t want to tell Harry about the accidental sleepover. They talked for a few minutes and made tentative plans for Liam to return the dinner favour the following week.

Finally, Liam made it to the workshop, smiling when he saw another package in front of the door. It was a different size than the other books, piquing his curiosity, especially when he noticed a couple of doodles on the wrapping around his name. Unwrapping it carefully, his eyes lit up as they fell onto the large old style comic drawing of Batman on the cover. Opening the book, he read the title: _Batman: The Complete History_ by Les Daniels. As he flipped through the book, something fell out and fluttered to the floor. Liam chuckled when he saw the Batman logos that were on the floor at his feet.

After picking them up, he let himself into the workshop and set the book on his desk before moving to the workbench to adhere the logos to his toolbox, smiling at the way the yellow stood out against the black. He hadn’t stopped trying to figure out the mystery behind the books; he’d even thought maybe it was his dad’s friend trying to be helpful, but with the appearance of this book, that changed things. He tried to think who knew about his slight Batman obsession.

Harry definitely knew, but they hadn’t met until after Liam had received the first book. There was the nice elderly woman up on the tenth floor who was always offering Liam tea and cookies when he was there, but he couldn’t imagine her coming down to the basement on the regular and dropping off books. His mind briefly flitted to Louis, but there was nothing about the boy that said he would do something like this; he seemed to actually take some perverted pleasure in Liam’s nervousness about fixing things in the building.

After he’d exhausted all of the other options, Zayn’s face filled his mind, not that it was ever very far from his thoughts. Despite barely knowing the man, this seemed like just the kind of thing that Zayn would do, but he couldn’t say why he felt that way. Shaking his head, he decided he was just projecting his own growing interest on the other man. He could feel the familiar war inside his brain whenever he crushed on someone, the louder voice convincing him that he was stupid and the other person was definitely straight and would never be interested in him.

Thankfully, he was able to pull himself out of his downward thought spiral by picking up the book and flipping it open. Unfortunately, the printer chose that moment to whir to life and spit out a single sheet of paper. With a sigh, Liam grabbed the work order and his toolbox and set off to get to work.

Liam finally made it back to his flat around nine at night, the work order had been for a clogged toilet on the second floor. He’d been proud that he’d figured out how to use the snake without causing too much damage other than a couple of cuts on his hands before he remembered to put the gloves on. He’d cleaned the cuts, but after speaking with his boss, he’d run to the twenty-four-hour clinic nearby to have them checked out and get a tetanus injection, as well as vaccination for Hepatitis A. The clinic had been incredibly busy and he’d spent several hours staring at the walls while he waited to be treated.

Liam quickly changed into pyjamas and settled onto the sofa with a beer, the Batman book, and the remote. He was just about to press play on _The Wolf of Wall Street_ when he heard a knock. Standing, he crossed to the door and peeked through the peephole. Zayn stood on the other side, looking up and down the hall before knocking again. Hesitantly, Liam opened the door, cursing a bit at the pressure against the bandages on his palms.

“Hey,” Zayn said, letting out a breath when Liam opened the door. “I was just wondering if you’d heard anything about...What happened?” He switched gears so quickly that it took Liam a minute to respond.

“Got bit by a snake,” Liam joked.

“A snake?! How?” Zayn’s hands fluttered around Liam’s for a moment before Liam held it out further for him to touch and inspect.

“A plumber’s snake,” Liam corrected, wanting to close his eyes and memorize the gentle brush of Zayn’s fingers.

“Have you been to see a doctor? You could catch-”

“Zayn, would you like to come in?” Liam interrupted him, smiling at the boy’s concern. He stepped back to allow him through. “I just got back from the clinic and got all sorts of shots.” He made a face at the memory. “They also said I had cleaned the wounds well myself.”

“Good.” Zayn glanced towards the telly. “Movie night?” His gaze bounced around the flat. “Am I interrupting something?” He suddenly looked nervous again.

“Yes to the movie. No to the interrupting,” Liam explained as he crossed into the kitchen. “Do you want a beer?” He wasn’t sure where the new bout of bravery was coming from, but after the night before and this morning, he figured that he and Zayn were, at the very least, mates.

“Are you sure?” he asked, suddenly standing just behind Liam.

“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t,” he told him, handing over a bottle. “Was thinking about ordering pizza if you wanted to join me.”

“Really?” Liam glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed at how oddly he was acting.

“Yeah. It’ll be nice to have the company.” He grabbed a menu from the closest place and handed it to Zayn. “I’ll eat pretty much anything, so what are we getting?”

Zayn glanced at the menu and then up at Liam. “Cheese or Chicken?”

“Barbecue chicken?” Zayn nodded and Liam grabbed his mobile and called to place their order. He watched as Zayn walked hesitantly around the kitchen, looking at the pictures on the fridge with a soft smile on his face.

“You have sisters,” he stated when Liam had hung up.

“Two older,” Liam said, tapping a photo of the three of them taken just before he’d moved to London. “Ruth and Nicola.” He debated saying anything but decided to take a chance. “I noticed some photos on your fridge as well. You have sisters, too?”

“Three. One older. Two younger.” Zayn’s smile was fond and Liam found himself returning it. “There are days I want to strangle them, but I really miss them.”

“I know what you mean.” Liam made his way back to the sofa, realizing he didn’t mind if Zayn stayed poking around the kitchen. He picked up the book again, figuring he’d start the movie once Zayn was settled.

“What’s that?” Zayn asked as he dropped onto the other end of the sofa, knocking Liam’s feet out of the way with a shy smile.

“A book about Batman. Someone left it outside the workshop.” Liam chose his words carefully, watching Zayn’s face for any indication that he’d been involved.

“Sick,” he muttered, reaching for it with a questioning gaze. Liam let him have it, watching as he flipped through it. “You have a legit secret admirer.”

Liam laughed. “With my luck, it’s Ms. Kravitz on the tenth floor.”

Zayn grinned. “Didn’t take you for someone who was into older birds,” Zayn teased, handing the book back.

“Not into them at all, really,” Liam uttered, his face flushing when Zayn’s eyes snapped to his. “Women, I mean. Not just the older ones.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, I’m gay.”

“Really?” Zayn’s face was the picture of shock and Liam felt himself wanting to crawl under the sofa and never come out; he would’ve thought that since Zayn was friends with Louis who was dating Harry that homosexuality wouldn’t have been a problem.

“If that’s an issue,” Liam ground out, his voice colder than normal, “you know where the door is.” He rose and started to leave the room, blinking quickly when he felt his eyes filling.

“It’d be pretty self-defeating for me to have a problem with gay people,” Zayn said, startling Liam when he touched his arm. “Since that demographic includes me.”

Liam turned slowly back towards Zayn, his eyes wide. “Really?”

Zayn snorted. “So, it’s alright for you to be all shocked, but I was an asshole?”

Liam could feel the burn of red that coated his face as he stammered out an apology for his reaction. “I’m sorry. Just when I was a kid, I…” He trailed off, trying to gather his thoughts, but realizing that Zayn’s hand had moved from his arm to his chin, forcing him to look at him. “I was bullied a lot when people found out.” He said the words in a rush and exhaled heavily when he was done.

Zayn just nodded, his smile small. “I get it. People can be assholes.” He dropped his hand before moving back to the sofa and sitting down. “A lot of my father’s family stopped speaking to me when I came out.”

Liam sat on the other end of the sofa, turning to face Zayn. “That sucks. At least my family was supportive. When the bullying started, my dad signed me up for boxing lessons and my sisters said I got enough shit at school, I didn’t need to get it at home as well.”

“Well, being gay and Muslim don’t really go well together,” Zayn admitted.

“I’ll confess to not knowing much about being a Muslim, but if it’s anything remotely like most religions, ouch,” Liam said, smiling slightly when Zayn’s lips twisted into a small grin.

They sat on the sofa smiling at each other until Liam’s phone began to ring. When he looked at the screen and saw the name, his smile grew and he looked at Zayn apologetically. “I kind of need to take this.”

Zayn’s smile dimmed a bit, but he nodded and rose. “Sure. Sure. I should get going anyway. Thanks for the beer.” He indicated the half-full bottle on the table. “I’ll see you later.”

Liam nodded his head absently, already lifting the phone to his ear laughing as he gave a cheery, “Nialler! Where the hell have you been?” He didn’t even hear the door close behind Zayn.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday!
> 
> It is currently 3:25 in the morning and I should be getting ready for work, but I wanted to get the chapter up as soon as possible, so here I am in a dark bedroom scrambling to get it posted before I'm late for work. ;)
> 
> This chapter brings Niall into the story and some sweet moments for our boys. :D
> 
> Thank you for all of the continued feedback! I can't even explain how much it means to me. :D
> 
> See you Sunday!
> 
> xx-Joey

A few days later, Zayn let himself into his flat, feeling like absolute hell. He’d gone into the store despite waking up feeling like he’d been hit by a lorry, but after a couple of hours where he couldn’t even keep his head upright, he’d waved a metaphorical white flag and left his assistant manager in charge. He was looking forward to falling into bed and sleeping until whatever demonic bug had infected him was gone. He was closing the door behind himself when he heard a loud, unfamiliar laugh.

“Niall, shush!” Liam’s voice rang out almost as loudly as the laugh, bringing a small smile to Zayn’s face that quickly turned to a frown when he realized what he’d said. Niall had been the name of the person that had called interrupting their movie night. The person whose name Liam had been so happy to see show up on his phone. What was this person doing in his flat? With Liam?

“You seriously can’t tell that someone just unscrewed that?” the voice asked, heavy with an Irish accent.

Zayn moved into the sitting room and saw a blond sitting on the floor, leaning against the coffee table looking at Liam who was fiddling with the shelf over the television. “Hello?” Zayn called out, flinching slightly when Liam yelped allowing the shelf to fall, narrowly missing the telly before turning towards Zayn.

“Zayn!” he hollered before his expression softened. “Are you alright?”

“Dying,” he mumbled, staring at the blond who had risen from the floor to stand next to Liam, blue eyes running over Zayn.

“He’s not that hot,” the blond said with a shrug before smacking Liam on the arm, leaving Zayn wondering if his fever had gotten to the point of delusions. “Anyway, I’m Niall.” He held his hand out, pulling it back with a shrug when Zayn stared at it. After several awkward moments, he turned his attention back to Liam. “Are you almost done with that bloody sabotaged shelf so we can go for pints?”

Liam glanced at Niall before handing over his keys. “Head back to mine. We’ll go when I’m done, yeah?” With another look at Zayn, Niall took the keys and left, leaving Zayn wavering on his feet and trying to follow the conversation. “Zayn, what’s wrong?”

“Dying,” he repeated his earlier response before turning from Liam towards his room, allowing his jacket and bag to fall from his shoulders as he went. He tripped out of his shoes and fell into the wall. As soon as he made contact, he gave up on making it to his room, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.

He felt Liam’s hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up.” Suddenly, Zayn felt himself being lifted into the air. “Let’s get you into bed. Then I’ll find you some meds and food.” Liam continued to talk until he settled Zayn onto his bed. “I’ll be right back.”

Zayn shifted himself around on the bed until he’d stripped out of his jeans, tugging his shirt over his head and groaning when his arms became tangled. He would’ve laughed at the look on Liam’s face if everything didn’t hurt so damn bad. “Fix this,” he croaked out, trying to be funny but sounding like a dying bird instead.

Liam nodded, setting the glass of water and pill bottle on the nightstand before reaching over to help Zayn untangle his arms. “I can fix that if you stop moving around so much.”

“Sorry.” Zayn felt tears fill his eyes. He hated being ill and he hated being embarrassed and right now he was both of those things in front of the fittest person he’d met in a long time, who apparently had a boyfriend.

Liam finally freed his arms, tossing the shirt to the side and pulling the blanket over Zayn when he gave a shiver. Finally, he grabbed the pill bottle and shook out two pills, handing them to Zayn. He refused to let Zayn hold the glass, which he was grateful for as another tremor from the cold shook through his body. 

“Okay, now relax. I have some chicken soup in my flat. If you give me a minute, I’ll go get it and bring it back.” Liam started to move away, but Zayn grabbed him. “I can’t get the soup if you don’t let go.”

“No soup, please. I can’t.” The thought of food was turning his stomach and his head was making it really hard to keep his eyes open against the light. 

“Alright,” Liam said, settling down on the edge of the bed and running a hand through Zayn’s damp hair. “Is there something I can do?” Zayn shook his head. “I won’t work on the shelf anymore today, it’d be too noisy, but do you want me to stay?”

“No. Go out with your boyfriend. Don’t let me-”

“Not my boyfriend,” Liam said, his voice soft. “Don’t have one of those.” 

“Good,” Zayn muttered, his eyes fluttering shut as he felt the pull of sleep begin to take him under.

***

The next day, Liam stood outside Zayn’s flat, hand raised to knock. He was back, officially, to try to finish the shelf and, unofficially, to check on Zayn. He knocked lightly, figuring if Zayn was still ill, he didn’t want to disturb him. It was only a few moments before the door was pulled open and Liam was greeted by a frazzled looking Louis.

“Great!” He grabbed Liam around the wrist and pulled him inside, reminding Liam a bit of his first visit to their flat. “I have to get to work and Zayn is being a massive baby.” With those words, Louis raced out the door, leaving Liam standing in shock.

He didn’t move until he heard Zayn croak out Louis’ name from down the hall. Setting down his toolbox, he made his way to Zayn’s room and found him sitting up in bed looking slightly surly, but at least less like death than he had the day before.

“You’re not Louis,” Zayn commented, his lips quirking like he was trying to fight off a smile.

“Thank God for small favours,” Liam responded, laughing, as he entered the room and sat on the edge of the bed. He hesitantly placed a hand on Zayn’s forehead, surprised when the other boy didn’t pull away. “Well, you’re not as hot as fire anymore, so that’s an improvement. Have you eaten?”

“Lou burnt me some toast.” He pointed to the nightstand where a plate with a half-eaten blackened piece of toast sat.

“That’s not going to help. I stored a couple of cans of soup in my toolbox, so I’ll heat one up for you. Chicken noodle.” He stood from the bed. “Then once you’re eating, I’ll finish fixing that shelf someone unscrewed from the wall.” He probably wouldn’t have noticed, to be fair, if Niall hadn’t pointed out that the shelf couldn’t have fallen as it had without causing more damage done to the wall or the television below it.

When Liam didn’t get a response, he glanced over his shoulder and found Zayn had moved to lie down on the bed with his eyes closed. He was pretty sure the boy couldn’t have fallen asleep that quickly, but he was sick, so anything was possible. Shaking his head, he decided to fix the shelf before feeding Zayn, allowing him to sleep a bit longer.

It took a little extra effort for Liam to fix the shelf without Niall’s help, but his friend was sleeping off a bit of a drinking binge from the night before. Liam was glad he’d decided to stop drinking when he had or he’d still be in bed as well. It had been way too long since he’d been out with a friend though, so when Niall had called to say he was coming to town for a few days, he’d been thrilled.

He’d met Niall while he’d been travelling. It was after he’d left Minsk, his plan to get home taking him on a scenic route through Ireland. A terrible rainstorm ravaging the countryside had forced him to take refuge in a small inn in Mullingar. His phone had died and he’d hope the inn had a room. If they were full, he’d had no idea what he would do because he’d had no idea where the next closest place to rent a room was. A sign at the front desk had directed people looking for a room to visit the pub and ask after Niall. The pub had been crowded and noisy, but Liam had managed to push his way up to the bar, finding it being run single-handedly by a harried-looking but smiling blond. 

“What have ye?” he’d asked as he’d filled four glasses.

“Niall,” Liam had shouted over the crowd, earning a laugh.

“Not really into blokes,” he’d responded.

Liam’s face had flushed bright red. “No. I’m look-”

“I got ya.” He’d slid a tray with the pint glasses on it over to him. “Do me a favour and take these to the table of crotchety cunts by the front door, yeah?” He’d disappeared to the other end of the bar before Liam could refuse, so with a shrug, he’d done as requested.

By the end of the night, Liam had served drinks to every person in the place at least once and had a pocket full of tips, but still no place to stay. Niall had seemed surprised to see Liam sitting at the bar when he’d finished locking up the front door.

“Closing time. Ye don’t need to go home, but ye can’t stay here,” he’d said.

“No room at the inn?” Liam’s heart had sunk as he’d thought about having to venture back out into the rain, his rucksack and outerwear still damp despite the hours he’d spent running around the pub.

Niall had tilted his head, studying Liam with a bright smile. “Suppose you’ve earned a night at mine after all the work you did tonight.” With a jerk of his head towards a door at the rear of the pub, a beautiful friendship had begun.

Now, he was returning the favour to Niall as he was travelling through England, although he’d spotted him checking out job postings the night before. He wouldn’t mind having a flatmate, he did have the extra room and thought about making the offer before Niall had to ask.

He put the finishing touches on the shelf, noticing the pile of books on the coffee table. He picked them up and arranged them on the shelf, frowning when they fell over. Glancing around, he spotted a couple of those large rocks with the sparkly insides on the coffee table. He grabbed them and put them at each end of the books, smiling when they held. He made a note to find out where he could get some, thinking they’d bring some brightness to the workshop and hold his books up.

He smiled once the work was done, but it faded as his mind went back to the deliberate sabotage of the shelf, wondering who had done it and why. Liam could see Louis doing it just to fuck with him. A small part of him wondered if maybe Zayn was doing it, but he couldn’t figure out why he would. With a shake of his head, he decided Niall was probably wrong and the two in this flat just had really lousy luck.

“Liam?” He looked up to see Zayn standing in the hallway, rubbing his eyes and looking sleep-ruffled. “Did I eat the soup and forget?”

Liam’s heart swelled at how cute the normally devastatingly handsome man was being. Crossing the room, he gently grasped Zayn’s elbow and led him to the sofa, settling him at one end with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and another draped over his lap. “No, I decided to let you sleep while I fixed the shelf.” He pointed over his shoulder to it and smiled when Zayn gave a nod. “Where did you get the shiny rocks from? I need a set of bookends for the workshop.”

“The geodes?” Zayn tilted his head for a moment. “My mum bought them for me on a trip to the states, I believe.” 

Liam’s heart sank. “Guess I’ll have to come up with something else then.” Clapping his hands and rubbing them together, he gave a Zayn a smile. “Let’s see about that soup.”

It was late afternoon by the time Liam had left Zayn dozing on his sofa after forcing him to eat one bowl of soup. He’d also left two microwave safe bowls of soup ready to heat when he got hungry. He felt badly leaving Zayn alone, but he also hated leaving Niall neglected when he was visiting him. He unlocked the door to his flat to find Niall lying on the floor, feet up on the coffee table, tossing a football in the air and catching it. “Hey, Nialler,” he said, laughing when the boy turned to look at him and the ball bounced off the side of his head.

“Where ye been?” He rubbed the side of his head before reaching out to retrieve the ball from where it had bounced away and returned to his earlier activity.

“This crazy thing called working, you should try it sometime,” Liam teased as he went into the kitchen to grab a soda from the fridge. He grabbed one for Niall as well, setting it on the blond’s stomach, glad that he caught it before it fell and rolled away.

“Did’ja fix that shelf for the dying hot guy?” Niall asked, holding the can and studying it like he was trying to figure out how to drink it without sitting up. “Got a straw?”

“In the kitchen,” Liam said, smirking, as Niall made a face and finally sat up and leaned his elbows on the coffee table. “And, yes, I fixed Zayn and Louis’ shelf. He’s feeling much-” A knock on the door cut him off. He rose to check through the peephole and spotted Harry waving wildly at the door. Shaking his head, he pulled the door open with a broad grin. “Hey, Harry.”

“Hey, Liam. I was wondering if you wanted to stop by for dinner. I cooked for Louis and Zayn, but Louis has to stay late at work and Zayn is sick, so I have a ton of food.”

“Did you say food?” Niall appeared at Liam’s side with wide eyes. “Hi, I’m Niall. If you feed me, I’ll be yer best mate. This cunt only has a fridge full of healthy crap.”

Harry looked taken back and endeared at the same time as he held a hand out. “I’m Harry. I made spag bol.”

Niall pushed past him into the hallway. “Which way are we going?”

Harry and Liam laughed as Liam locked up and followed Harry and a chattering Niall down the hall. He was surprised, but only slightly, when Niall mentioned to Harry that he was looking for a job in town. “Zayn’s looking for help at the store.”

“What store?” Liam asked as they settled around the table, plates piled with pasta.

“His bookstore? The used one on the corner? He owns it.” Harry was looking at Liam like he’d grown another head, making him feel as if he was the world’s biggest git. “Anyway, he’s opening a coffee shop attached to it and looking for someone to manage it. Got any management experience?”

Liam stopped paying attention as he thought about what Harry was saying. Zayn owned a used bookstore and Liam had been receiving used books as presents from an unnamed source. Could that be a coincidence? It could be, but that razor thing he’d learned about the other day in his psychology class was shouting to him that it made perfect sense. He just couldn’t figure out why Zayn would give him books. If he had left them, why had he acted as if he’d never seen the Batman book before Liam had shown it to him?

He hadn’t realized how lost in thought he was until he felt a sharp smack to the back of his head. With a wince, he rubbed at it and turned his attention to Niall who was laughing and shaking his head. “Where’d you go?” Harry asked, standing from the table with his empty plate.

“Lots on my mind,” Liam muttered, glaring at Niall when the boy laughed again but finally allowing the infectious sound to get to him, letting out a small chuckle. When Harry reappeared with a couple of beers and a board game, he decided to shut his mind off for the evening and just enjoy a night with friends.

***

A few days later, Zayn was finally able to return to work. He was surprised to see just how far the contractors had gotten with the coffee bar addition, easing his stress over whether it would be complete in time for the planned opening. Now, he just had to find someone to manage the bar because food service was not his speciality. He had asked Harry if he knew anyone who was looking, but he’d refused to answer because he hadn’t wanted to risk losing any of the people he worked with.

The jangle of the bells above the door sounded and Zayn glanced up to see someone walking in, smiling broadly and saying hello to each person he passed. Something about the guy looked familiar, but he couldn’t place where he might know him from.

“Zayn! You look so much better when you’re not dyin’!” he greeted as he approached the counter and held a hand out for a fist bump.

Zayn returned it with a hesitant, “Er, thank you?”

He threw his head back with another laugh, drawing the attention of everyone in the shop and Zayn wanted to duck behind the counter. “You really were out of it. I’m Niall.” Zayn blinked blankly at him. “I was at your flat the other day when you were feeling poorly. I was with Liam.”

Recognition finally dawned on Zayn. This was Liam’s boyfriend. “Right. Something I can help you with?”

“Actually, there’s something I can help you with.” His smile grew as Zayn became more confused. “Harry said you’re looking for a manager for a coffee shop?”

“It’s actually just a bar. How do you know Harry?” 

“Had us over for dinner the other night when you were sick and Lou was workin’ over,” Niall explained. “Anyway, he mentioned you were in need of a manager and I’m in need of a job, so we can help each other out.”

“What if I told you I already gave the job to someone?” Zayn asked, turning his back to make himself busy with a box of books that had come in while he’d been off.

“I’d ask if you had anything else.” Niall’s voice was serious and quiet. “I really want to stay in London, mate.”

“I guess I’d want to stay where my boyfriend was, too,” Zayn muttered.

“What?” Niall burst into laughter and Zayn turned back to find him nearly doubled over, hands over his stomach as he guffawed loudly. Glancing around, Zayn saw pleasant smiles on the faces of the customers. He felt his own face mirroring theirs. “First, Liam is just my mate. Second, I’m straight.” Zayn felt his face warm at his assumptions and opened his mouth to apologize. “If that’s an ‘I’m sorry’ about to come out of those lips, I’ll just stop you now. I’m not offended. If I swung that way, I’d be lucky to have a guy as great as Liam.”

“He is a nice guy,” Zayn admitted. After studying Niall for a few more minutes, he let out a breath. “Alright, what kind of experience do you have?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The razor thing: Occam's Razor is a theory that the simplest solution is usually the right one.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning, everyone.
> 
> Today's chapter is why there is a tag for angst. You have been warned.
> 
> See you Wednesday.
> 
> xx-Joey

A couple of weeks later, Liam was at the end of his patience. His classes were harder than he’d expected, everything seemed to be breaking in the building, and he’d gained an unexpected flatmate. A part of him was very thankful for Niall because he was his best mate, even if they hadn’t known each other very long, but he was loud. It had gotten to the point that Liam would hole up in the workshop to get his homework done and had fallen asleep on the beat-up sofa down there more than once, waking up with a terrible crick in his back. 

The only bright spots over the past few weeks were the other boys in the building. Zayn had stopped by with a set of bookends in thanks for helping him out when he was ill. They weren’t geodes, but they were wicked cool. The two halves made up Two-Face and Liam let out a happy laugh, hugging Zayn tightly before he could stop himself, relieved when Zayn had hugged him back just as hard. Another night, Zayn had stopped by with a pizza to split to make up for that long ago night that he’d disappeared before one had been delivered. He’d also taken to sending random texts to Liam throughout the day that never failed to make him smile. 

Harry could tell how stressed he was and had cooked dinner two separate nights making sure to pack up leftovers for Liam to take for lunches. Even Louis had dropped by one morning with a cup of coffee and bag of doughnuts for Liam as he was racing out the door to school. He was exceedingly grateful for all of them.

Now, it was the end of the term and Liam had a lot of terrifying exams to study for, but he couldn’t get it done at the flat. The last couple of days, he’d been tempted to disconnect the printer in the office because it kept whirring to life and distracting him. Finally, he broke down and ordered a pair of noise-cancelling headphones online, overnight shipping, and used them when he was down there. 

It was nearly midnight one night and he was blinking slowly over an in-depth analysis of  _ A Midsummer Night’s Dream _ when he saw the pager start skittering across the desk and he groaned, feeling his eyes fill with frustrated tears. He couldn’t even imagine what could have happened that would qualify for an emergency at that time of the night. Blindly he reached over to the printer, peeling off the work order as the pager went off again.

Checking the message screen on the pager, he saw that the dispatcher had qualified the request as ASAP instead of 999, which meant Liam could technically ignore it until morning. He had almost decided on doing that when his eyes fell on the tenant’s name.  _ Zayn. _ He pushed himself to stand, dropping his headphones on the desktop before grabbing the work order, pager and his toolbox and heading upstairs.

He knocked quietly on the door, not wanting to wake anyone if they’d put the request in and then went to bed. It was only a moment before he heard shuffling and the door was pulled open. “Leeyum?” Zayn asked, his voice sleepy and soft like the black robe he was wrapped in. “What are- Did they make it an emergency? It could’ve waited.”

“I can go,” Liam said, feeling bad now for impulsively coming upstairs.

Zayn shook his head. “No, c’mon in. Was up anyway watching some stupid movie about sparkly vampires. Couldn’t sleep and was hoping a shower would help, but…”

“Yeah,” Liam responded, following Zayn to the washroom. He stepped around him to the shower and pulled the lever. He could hear the water running but nothing came out of the head except for a couple of dribbles. Looking closer, he narrowed his eyes as he noticed the shower head looked odd. “I can fix that.” He sounded confident enough that he’d convinced himself.

When Zayn didn’t respond, Liam glanced over and found him leaning against the far wall, eyes closed and mouth slack. He felt a wave of fond as he moved towards Zayn, touching his shoulder gently and steadying him when he jerked awake. “Go lay down.”

He shook his head. “No. Gonna help.” His words were slurred, but full of stubbornness, so Liam moved him to sit on the edge of the tub.

Liam worked quickly to shut off the water and remove the shower head, smiling as Zayn handed him tools - the right ones unlike Louis when he “helped”. Once it was removed, he turned the water on low and saw it flow easily through the pipe, so the problem was the head itself. He moved to the sink and held the shower head under the tap, turning it on and watching as it filled, very little water escaping before it spilt over the top. Turning off the tap and inverting the head, he poured the water out and scratched at the surface, something clear coming off under his nail. He lifted his finger to his nose and sniffed, making a face.

“What’s wrong? Is it mould?” Zayn asked, suddenly sounding more awake.

Liam didn’t answer and squatted down to look in the bin, groaning when he pulled out a nearly empty bottle of clear nail varnish. As his sleep-deprived mind put two and two together, he felt anger blistering inside of him. He pushed himself to stand, wheeling around and startling Zayn who had moved up behind him. “What the fuck, Zayn?” Liam hissed, his exhausted state unable to contain the anger that had built inside of himself. His emotions were so out of control, he couldn’t even feel remotely bad when Zayn flinched in response. He waved the bottle in his face. “Like I don’t have enough to do without midnight calls to fix your sabotage? What were you thinking?”

Liam could feel the tears springing to his eyes as Zayn’s gaze shifted between Liam’s face and the bottle. “I don’t know-”

“Just stop,” Liam interrupted. “Just stop breaking things. If you wanted me to come to see you, you could’ve just asked. You know how terrible things have been for me lately, how much stress I’ve been under because of Niall and school and this job. I thought we were becoming friends, but then you do this to me.” He dropped the bottle back in the bin and then moved quickly to take a replacement head from his toolbox, thankful he’d grabbed it before coming up, and attaching it, ignoring Zayn completely.

When he was done, he tossed the varnish clogged shower head into the trash, grabbed his toolbox and walked to the door of the flat. Zayn grabbed his arm just as he wrapped his hand around the knob. “The next time you feel the need to break something in the flat, don’t. The next time you want to stop in to see me, don’t. I am too tired and like you too much to handle playing games, Zayn.”

With that, he jerked his arm away and when Zayn grabbed at him again, he turned an angry glare on him and hissed out, “Don’t,” from between clenched teeth before storming out of the flat. He hit the button for the lift, but then decided he couldn’t stand there waiting for it, so he practically ran to the stairs, surprised when Zayn’s door didn’t slam behind him.

***

Zayn stood in the doorway watching Liam’s retreating back as his brain pounded from the effort of trying to figure out what had just happened. He knew Liam was angry with him, but he didn’t know why.  Liam’s words didn’t make any sense to him; he’d made it sound like he’d been intentionally breaking things around the flat just to get Liam to come to see him, but he hadn’t. Half the time he hadn’t even realized something had been broken until Liam was standing in the doorway with his toolbox. 

He was still standing there when the lift doors opened and Louis stumbled out laughing, the sound dying when he saw Zayn’s face. “What happened? Isn’t the shower fixed?” Louis moved into the flat, pulling Zayn with him, letting the door fall shut before latching it. 

“Yeah. Liam just-wait, how did you know it was broken?” Zayn narrowed his eyes at Louis’ reddening face as things began piecing together in his brain, remembering thinking at one point that Louis had been breaking things to bring Liam around the flat. He wanted to smack himself for not remembering that when Liam had still been standing there. He let out a disappointed sigh. “Oh, Lou, what did you do?”

Louis tried to move away from him, but he grabbed his arm. “Seriously, Louis. Tell me what you did because Liam just yelled at me and told me to never bother him again.” He choked on the words, his emotions warring between anger and misery as he stared at the man he considered his best mate. “This flat could probably fall to shambles and he’ll never set foot in here again and he blames me!” He couldn’t even let himself dwell on how much it would hurt to not see Liam again, especially when he realized it had nothing to do with him. “What did you do?!”

“Look, I saw the way you looked at Liam that first day he showed up for the tap. You were practically eye fucking him. I was hoping you’d ask him out or something, but you didn’t. So, I stuck a magnet in the drawer, but he came when we weren’t here and when I tried to get him to stay he ran away.”

“The sponge animals in the toilet?” Zayn questioned, remembering his confusion about how they’d ended up there and then his suspicion that Louis was trying to hit on Liam.

“That was actually a happy accident,” Louis confessed. “I honestly thought they would just flush into the sewer. Liam didn’t seem too upset at Harry’s for dinner that night.”

“He wasn’t. He was actually really great the entire night I spent at his flat,” Zayn snapped.

Louis’ face broke into a blinding smile. “You spent the night with him? Is he as hot without the tight t-”

“I didn’t sleep with him, you arse! I helped him with his homework and passed out on his sofa.” Zayn was furious, remembering the comfortable evening and the lovely morning he’d spent with Liam. Something that he’d hope to do again and again. Now, thanks to his obnoxious flatmate, that would never happen. “The shelf?”

“Unscrewed it.” Louis looked sheepish, which lessened Zayn’s anger slightly, but not enough.

“He was here working on it when I came home from work that day when I was so ill I could barely stand up and do you know what Liam did?” Louis shook his head. “He put me to bed and made sure I took meds. The next day he came back and made me soup! He took care of me! We were becoming friends, maybe with the possibility of more, and now-” Zayn couldn’t even say it. He just threw his hands in the air and screamed. “Fuck you, Louis Tomlinson! I really wish I’d never met you.”

Louis opened his mouth to speak, but Zayn just turned on his heel to stomp away, stopping when he heard a thump near the front door and retreating footsteps. Before he could move, Louis was yanking the door open and looking down the hall shouting Liam’s name. Zayn heard the quiet sound of the door to the stairwell closing as he moved to stand behind Louis, but his eyes were on the ground.

Actually, his eyes were on the box that was lying in front of their doorway. It was full of books, bookends, and even ripped up batman decals with black paint stuck to the bits. A bright orange sticky note was stuck to the top and in Liam’s messy handwriting was written:  _ “I’m not even sure if the books and stickers are from you, but I think they probably are, so I’m returning them to you. I don’t need any reminders.” _

Zayn sank to the floor and stared at the evidence of lost hope. He was so adrift in his own misery, he didn’t even notice Louis pulling the box into the flat and shutting the door. He was vaguely aware of being pulled to his feet and pushed into movement, but all he could focus on was the broken look on Liam’s face as he’d left, the echo of “Don’t” in his angry voice crashing into his heart with every repeat.

***

Liam stopped in the stairwell, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. A part of his exhausted brain was telling him to push back through the door and stride down the hall to talk to Zayn - to apologize for his behaviour, but the larger part of his brain was still angry and was afraid he’d just yell again, demanding an explanation. He ran his hands through his hair, groaning because they tugged where they were still sticky from pulling the decals off his toolbox to put in the box that he’d just left in Zayn’s doorway.

The longer he stood there, the more exhausted he became. Before he could slide down the wall to the floor and sleep where he stood, he forced himself to move. Leaning heavily on the handrails, he made his way down to the basement and the workshop. He pushed through the wall and winced at his toolbox lying on its side where he’d thrown it against the workbench, destroying the latch. The paint was gone in places where he’d peeled the decals off.

Glancing around at the mess he’d made of the room as he took his anger out on everything, he felt overcome with embarrassment for his childish behaviour. He moved to his desk, bypassing the chair to sit atop of it, placing his feet on his chair, elbows on his knees as he rubbed at his eyes, cursing the wetness that wasn’t stopping. After several moments, he started blinking trying to ignore the now empty shelf in front of himself. He stared at the rubber mallet he’d picked up to destroy it before he’d stopped himself at the last moment because he was actually pretty proud that he’d built it himself. Now, he just had to forget that he’d learned how to build it from one of the books from Zayn.

With a huge sigh, Liam slid off the desk, grabbing his school books before leaving the workshop and the mess behind, and locked up. He focused his mind on climbing into bed and sleeping until his alarm went off in far too few hours so he could get up and head into his exam that he suddenly felt woefully unprepared for.

The next few days passed quickly. Somehow, Liam had managed to stay awake through his exams and felt slightly confident that he’d done well, or at least passed, all of them. At the end of the week, he was letting himself into his flat where he was greeted by voices and laughter. Glancing into the kitchen, he froze when he saw Niall and Louis sitting across from each other at the table, cards in hand and various curses being tossed back and forth between laughter.

Liam had been hoping to grab a beer and a sandwich before getting ready to go out with some people from class, but he was not in the mood for Louis who had texted him numerous times since his fallout with Zayn. Zayn had texted as well, but Liam had ignored them all, in fact, he’d been ignoring everyone. The only reason he’d agreed to go out that night was that none of the people going had anything to do with Zayn or the building. He took a step backwards to hurry to his room when Louis looked up, his laughter immediately dying.

“Liam,” he said, his voice less buoyant than normal. “How-” His voice cut off as Liam turned on his heel and hurried away.

Liam went into his room, listening as Niall shouted after him. He closed the door, thinking for the first time that he really should put a lock on it just as it burst open and Niall was glaring at him. “You’re avoiding all of us.” His voice was firm and his normally friendly blue eyes looked stormy.

Liam moved to his wardrobe, pulling out clothes. “I need to get ready. I’ll talk to you later.” He tried to leave the room, to head to the washroom for a shower, but Niall stood steadfast.

“What did we do?” Liam’s eyes snapped to his friend, who now looked small and young, and his heart broke a little. “From what Louis said, I kind of get why you aren’t talking to him, but what did I do? Or Harry? Or Zayn?”

Liam opened his mouth to reassure Niall and question what Louis had done other than be Zayn’s flatmate until he spoke those last two words. He felt the irrational hurt and anger return. “Wasted my time.” Niall’s mouth opened to argue. “Zayn did. Not you.” Niall huffed and tried again to argue, but Liam held a hand up, cutting off the flow of words. “Don’t defend him. Now, please, I’m meeting with people from school and I don’t want to be late.”

Niall started to speak again but snapped his mouth shut when Liam’s shoulders sagged and he turned pleading eyes on him. He moved out of the way with a shrug and Liam escaped into the washroom. He had just closed the door when he heard Niall say to Louis. “We’ve got to do something, mate. I haven’t seen him this torn up since I first met him.”

***

Zayn wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to go out to the club after closing up the bookstore, but Louis had shown up looking like a kicked puppy with Harry gently nudging him forward and then the next thing he knew, he was pushed up against a bar ordering far too many alcoholic beverages. Louis was babbling next to him, his words lost in the throb of the bass filling the club, but probably more apologies for the situation he’d inadvertently created between Zayn and Liam. He hadn’t stopped apologizing since the night Liam had yelled at Zayn and then dropped the box outside of their door, but Zayn wasn’t even angry with him anymore; he was just sad.

He missed Liam. Not the Liam that came to fix things around his flat, but the Liam that liked comics and struggled with English papers. The Liam whose favourite place to visit during his travels sounded terribly depressing, but he spoke of it with fondness, his mahogany eyes lighting up with sparkles that reminded Zayn of fireworks.

“Woah, you really are drunk,” Harry shouted, startling Zayn out of his thoughts and making him realize he’d spoken aloud. He turned to see Harry smiling at him, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. The sadness in his eyes was enough to break Zayn’s heart all over again. “He still won’t talk to any of us, mate. I miss him, too.” 

Louis started tugging on Zayn’s arm. “Dance!” he shouted. Zayn shook his head, but Louis was determined and eventually dragged him to the crowded dance floor, Harry following, hooking a finger through Zayn’s belt loop to keep from getting left behind.

Although he hated dancing, Zayn had imbibed just enough to stop caring what the people around him thought as he let himself be pulled between Harry and Louis, the three of them grinding on each other and laughing loudly. It didn’t take long for Zayn to remember why he hated dancing with these two as they started to make out over his shoulder. With an embarrassed laugh, he extricated himself, stumbling once he was free and falling into something solid.

Looking at what, or who, he’d fallen into, Zayn’s apology died on his lips as he saw the face he’d been thinking about nonstop for far too long now. They both froze, staring at each other. Zayn started forming a different apology when very feminine arms snaked their way around Liam’s middle and a petite blonde pushed her head underneath his arm to blink at Zayn.

“Hiiii,” she shouted, clearly drunk. “I’m Adriana!”  

“Hi,” Zayn responded, hoping the smile he forced to his lips looked sincere. Based on the wide-eyed gaze on Adriana’s face and the way she pulled behind Liam a bit further made him doubt it was a friendly expression at all. “M’Zayn,” he tried again, holding his hand out, but the girl’s eyes just widened further as she looked up at Liam.

“That’s Zayn?” she shouted and Zayn watched Liam’s eyes close and chest rise and fall in a deep sigh. “You were-” Liam cut the girl off by pulling her out from under his arm and in front of him. Leaning close, he spoke into her ear, eyes on Zayn. The girl nodded her head enthusiastically before starting away from them. She was just about swallowed up by the crowd when she suddenly pushed back through and into Zayn, grasping his shoulder in one hand and waving the index finger of the other in Zayn’s face. “You’re too cute to be a jerk,” she said to him, her voice stern but quickly turning into a giggle when she pressed a kiss to his cheek before turning on her heels singing something about drinks and disappeared.

Zayn watched her go, jumping when he felt Liam move closer, a hand tentatively coming to rest on his waist, the other coming up to rub at his cheek. He tensed as he looked up at Liam who was chewing his lip, eyes looking a bit unsure. Liam showed Zayn the pad of his thumb, smudged with a colour that looked very much like the red which had been on Adriana’s lips before smiling shyly at Zayn.

Zayn felt himself wavering toward Liam, and just before their lips could touch, Zayn changed his momentum to lean up and whisper into Liam’s ear, “I thought you hated me.” He immediately regretted saying anything when his words made Liam suddenly jerk away from him and disappear into the crowd in the same direction that Adriana had.

With a groan at his own stupidity, Zayn started to follow Liam before realizing he didn't know what to do or say to make the situation better and heading towards the exit instead. Pulling his phone out, he quickly texted Louis to tell him he was heading back to the flat. Luckily, it wasn’t too terribly long a walk because he was too drunk to drive and he didn’t have the patience to wait for an Uber. He also hoped that the walk would clear his head, help him figure out why he’d reminded Liam of his anger instead of just going with the look those brown eyes had been giving him.   

By the time he let himself into the flat, Zayn had worked himself into a full-on strop at his behaviour. He dropped his coat on the floor by the sofa and stormed toward his room, feeling his mood darkening even more. He reached his room, throwing the door open and feeling a bit of satisfaction as the knob crashed into the wall. Without thinking, he turned and recreated the sound, using his own hands instead of the doorknob.

“Shit,” Zayn muttered as he looked down at the blood dripping from his knuckles and the hole in the wall. “You massive bell,” he berated himself as he reached back with his other hand to make another mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the short note at the top, I'm sure you've heard about the massacre in Christchurch. I have a friend who lives there and was on lockdown for hours. Then yesterday at a prayer vigil for the victims at the University of Michigan there was an active shooter scare that put the campus on lockdown. My daughter was at the vigil and was locked in a nearby office with three strangers. She texted me right away to let me know what was safe and what was happening, but it was still a terrifying few hours until the all-clear went out. It ended up being a false alarm, girls were popping balloons and screaming in the building next to the vigil, but the fear was too real and it's an experience my daughter and all the others and their families and friends will never forget.
> 
> I really, really hate this world.
> 
> But - I love my family and my friends and I love you and I will never hesitate to tell you because you never know when I won't be able to anymore.
> 
> Much love to each and every one of you.
> 
> xx-Joey


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday, everyone!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who sent me kind words and left comments about my daughter after the last chapter. I had a nice lunch with her and my mum after posting the chapter on Sunday and that helped me feel better and I hope it helped her, too.
> 
> I hope you enjoy today's chapter, only three more after this - can't believe the month and the story are going so quickly.
> 
> Have a good rest of the week! See you all on Sunday!
> 
> xx-Joey

Liam groaned as his phone went off next to him. Patting his hand around, he finally found it, moving it so he could look at it without having to open his eyes very far. There were three missed texts from Adriana and one from Niall. With a curse, he opened the one from Niall to see it was just telling him he was on his way to A&E so he couldn’t grab lunch as they had discussed when Liam had dragged himself in from the club the night before. Liam texted back a thumbs up before rolling over and pulling his pillow over his head.

Three seconds later he was sitting straight up in bed, his head and stomach protesting violently as he grabbed his phone and called Niall. “What the hell are you doing in A&E?” Liam asked when the call connected. He was hopping around the room, trying to get clothes on ready to drive to Niall.

“I’m not anymore. I’m at lunch with the boys,” Niall responded. “Say hi to Liam everyone.” Dead silence met those words and Liam felt a bit of shame fall over him. “Well, I guess there’s that then,” Niall commented.

“So, why  _ were _ you at A&E?” Liam questioned, dropping to sit on the bed before falling back to stare at the ceiling.

“Wasn’t me. Zayn got hurt. They’re keeping him for a few more hours,” Niall explained.

Liam felt a bolt of concern shoot through him, but before he could ask, Niall was saying goodbye and hanging up. Liam stared at his phone. He tried calling Niall back to ask what had happened to Zayn, but the calls went straight to voicemail meaning Niall was ignoring him; the Irish bastard knew Liam would be beating himself up not knowing what had happened. He debated trying to contact Zayn but figured hearing from him was probably the last thing that he wanted.           

Groaning, Liam pushed himself off the bed, deciding he better get himself moving and his mind occupied before he drove himself crazy. He figured he would check the printer in the office to see if there was any work to do. He was standing in the elevator when he remembered the messages from Adriana. When he clicked them open, he had to blink at the grainy photo. She must have snapped it just as Zayn had leaned up to speak to Liam, just before the moment had been broken. If he hadn’t been there in that moment, he would’ve thought Zayn was leaning up for a kiss, but he knew better. 

_ “I thought you hated me.” _

The words rolled around in Liam’s head as he let himself into the workshop, eyes wide at the stack of papers waiting on the printer and the red light flashing to indicate it was out of paper. Grabbing the stack off the top, he refilled the paper, relieved when only one more sheet spit out. He started with that one, ignoring the stack on the desktop. As soon as he saw Louis’ name on the request with “Routine” checked for urgency, he moved it to the bottom of the stack, hoping to put whatever it was off for as long as possible.

About halfway through sorting the stack, which included duplicate requests for him to fix a leaky tap in Ms. Kravitz’s flat, he remembered that Zayn wouldn’t be home, so he could at least look into what needed fixing. He tugged the work order from the bottom of the stack and scanned the words, his jaw falling slack as he read:  _ Numerous holes in bedroom wall need repair. _ He shook his head, wondering what had caused the holes, but with Zayn in A&E, he had a really bad feeling he already knew.

Grabbing his toolbox, he left the workshop to head to Ms. Kravitz’s first. He knew the tap would be an easy fix, but he didn’t want to keep making her wait and put in more requests, knowing that would just make Liam look bad. He kept the conversation with the friendly older woman to a minimum, trying to fight off the frown when she asked if he’d met any nice young men since the last time he’d been to see her. 

He managed to get out of the flat without having to talk on the phone to her grandson that she was convinced was gay. With a fond shake of his head, he got in the lift to head down to the fifth floor, the ball of nerves in his stomach tightening with each number that lit up. As the door dinged open, he stepped out and knocked before he talked himself out of it. After a few moments, he pressed his ear to the door, listening carefully, relieved when he didn't hear anything from the other side. 

He double checked that the work order stated he could enter when the flat was empty before unlocking the door and going inside. A small part of him was hoping he was wrong about the holes in the wall, but as he checked Louis’ room and saw no damage, he felt hope slipping away. Stepping into Zayn’s room, Liam pushed the memories of taking care of Zayn when he was sick out of his mind, turning to look at the wall. It only took a few seconds of looking at the damage to the wall, of the red speckles in each dent before Liam ran to the washroom and threw up what little was left in his stomach from the night before.

As he rested his head against the wall next to the toilet, he sighed out, “Zayn, why?” As soon as he was sure he was able to stand without vomiting again, he flushed, rinsed his mouth out and washed his hands. Returning to Zayn’s room, he looked at the damaged wall again, trying to decide if this was something he’d have to call in an outside company for. His eyes fell on the box he’d returned to Zayn, a book sticking out of the top, its title  _ Walls, Ceilings and Woodwork _ visible over the bookends. With a nod, Liam grabbed the book and glanced at the wall. “I can fix that,” he said to the room. 

After a few moments of studying the book, he began to work on the wall. Several hours later, he brushed off his hands and began putting his tools away, having completed all he could with what supplies he had on hand. He was surprised no one had returned to the flat, but also a bit relieved. He taped an orange  _ “While You Were Out”  _ note to the wall and pulled his phone out to shoot off a quick text.

***

Zayn stood in the foyer of his childhood home with his head bowed as his mum went between yelling at him for being an irrational idiot and crying that he was home for a few days to visit and recover from being an irrational idiot. The main message he was taking away from all this was that he was an irrational idiot, but he didn’t need his mum telling him that; he’d already heard it from Louis and Niall and the doctors and anyone else who had heard how he had bruised the knuckles of one hand and broken them on the other.

“Can I come in, mum, or are you going to make me stand in the foyer for the next week?” he teased, ducking when his mum reached out to smack the side of his head with a smile on her flushed face.

“Still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me you were coming. Or why you took an Uber from the station.” She continued muttering under her breath as he followed her into the kitchen, setting his bag down in the corner. A few minutes later he was sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits while his mum continued to fuss over him. He smiled shyly as she had to open his pill bottle and give him two to swallow, but was glad that made her stop talking. “Thanks for letting me stay, mum.”

“You’re always welcome here. You have your room and you can stay as long as you need or want to, sonshine.” Her face turned suddenly serious. “Who’ll mind the store while you’re gone? Did you even think about that? Did you even think about anything before you decided to punch the wall?” She was hovering, but Zayn didn’t have the heart to ask her to stop because he really did appreciate it, despite each word making him feel worse and worse about what he had done. The last person to take care of him had been Liam and he’d screwed that up, at least he knew he couldn’t screw up with his mum.

“I hired a manager for the coffee shop. His name is Niall and he offered, actually he insisted, to take over the store so I could recover a bit,” he explained.

“Must be a good lad.” She finally sat down across from Zayn, sipping at her own mug and watching him.

“He is, yeah.” Zayn thought about how Niall had immediately been there to take him to A&E when Louis had found him curled up on the floor of his room, bloody hands wrapped around his midsection as tears flowed freely and his body was racked with sobs. He’d refused to be moved at first, but Niall had shrugged and managed to pick Zayn up, putting him gently over his shoulder and carried him out of the flat, down the stairs, and out of the building to his car.

“And how are Louis and Harry?” He could hear it in her voice, the unasked question, but he also didn’t want to talk about it.

“They’re fine. Disgustingly loved up as always.” He could feel the fond smile on his face, watching it mirrored on his mother’s. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to find myself a new flatmate soon. Lou spends more nights at Harry’s than round ours.” He wondered if Niall might want to move in; he had mentioned feeling like he was imposing on Liam. With a sigh, Zayn realized that as much as he liked Niall, if he had to choose one of his friends as a flatmate, it wouldn’t be him. Then again, he wasn't even sure the person he would choose was even his friend anymore.

Zayn glanced up when he felt his mum brush her fingers gently over his bruised knuckles. “So, are you going to tell me what got to you?” He shook his head, pulling his hand away and looking into his now empty mug. “Is it that boy you called looking for bookends for?” He felt heat crawl up his face. “Well, if he doesn’t appreciate you, I don’t appreciate him.” Zayn opened his mouth to speak, but a yawn cracked his jaw instead and his mum laughed. “Go get some sleep. We can talk later.”

He stood, hugging his mum and kissing her on the cheek before climbing the stairs to his old room, smiling at the familiarity and just how young the room was. The superhero posters on the walls and drawings he’d made tacked around. If it hadn’t been so clean, he would’ve sworn the room hadn’t been touched since he’d moved out. He giggled as he noticed the Green Lantern bedding set. 

Carefully, he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, noticing it must have died at some point between leaving the club and arriving at his parents’ home. He opened one of the desk drawers, thankful to find a compatible charger so he wouldn’t have to go downstairs to grab his bag. He plugged the phone in and fell back on his bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars his sisters had put up on the ceiling one day as a surprise for him. It only took a few minutes before his phone turned itself on and started vibrating with alerts. With a deep sigh, Zayn moved to his desk chair to look at it.

There were several texts from Louis asking him to let him know of his safe arrival home. Zayn attempted to text back, but it was painful to do so. He used voice to text, thankful that it didn’t screw up too badly as he hit send. He asked Louis to pass messages to Harry and Niall so he wouldn’t have to keep repeating himself. 

As he was clearing out the messages, he was surprised to see one from Liam. A small part of him, the part that was still upset with himself for pushing Liam away at the club, wanted to ignore the message, but the larger part of him was curious to see what he had to say. He tapped the message with his thumb:

_ hope ur ok _

Zayn blinked for a minute, surprised Liam even knew anything had happened. He tapped the microphone next to the space bar and began to speak. “I’m alright. Period. Not the worst I’ve done. Period. What did you hear? Question mark.” Speaking the punctuation was annoying, but he was always so anal about his texting, earning quite a bit of teasing from Louis. Surprisingly, Liam’s texting style didn’t bother him.

_ heard nothin saw walls _

Zayn closed his eyes with a groan. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that what he had done would create more work for Liam. Now he felt even worse and was actually fighting the itch to hit something again. Before he could hit the microphone button, another text came across.

_ I stole back book need 4 wall sorry _

It took Zayn a minute to realize what Liam was talking about, but when he did, he almost laughed. He was apologizing for taking back a book Zayn had given him in the first place. Only Liam with his kind and gentle soul would try and apologize for something that wasn’t even wrong in the first place. He was about to send another message when he thought better of it and called Liam instead, pleasantly surprised when he picked up on the first ring.

“I’ll give it back when I’m done,” Liam greeted, sounding a bit panicked.

“The books were for you. If you check under my bed, you’ll find the rest of the set,” Zayn explained. “Sorry to have created more work for you.”

“What happened? I tried to convince myself you fell into the wall, but you didn’t seem that pissed when I saw you.” Liam’s voice was quiet and Zayn wondered what he was doing. Was he lying in bed? Lounging on the sofa? Pacing the floor?

“I have a bad habit of lashing out at inanimate objects when I lose the plot.” He hated admitting it, had worked so hard to stop doing it, but if this was the last conversation he had with Liam, he deserved the truth.

“You know pillows don’t fight back, right?” Liam asked, laughing. “Maybe spit out a few feathers here and there, but that’s about it.”

Zayn found himself laughing so hard that he had to lean over and rest his forehead on his desk as he tried to catch his breath to respond. “I’ll keep that in mind the next time.”

“What got you so upset?” His voice was so quiet that Zayn nearly missed it, but before he could form an answer, Liam was talking again. “You know what, it’s none of my business. I’ll probably be back round yours tomorrow to do some more work. Have to run to the store to pick up some drywall first,” Liam was explaining. “Is there a time that will be good for me not to be in your way?”

“Liam, you’re welcome in my flat anytime.” His laughter died as he realized how detached Liam sounded suddenly. “I was upset because I pushed you away at the club. I shouldn’t have. Should have just accepted it as us moving past the argu-”

“Zayn, I’m really sorry I yelled at you. Even if you were purposely sabotaging things, it’s not my place to judge or get upset,” Liam told him. “I was just so tired and stressed.”

“Why? Other than Louis making your job more difficult, I mean. It was him that was busting stuff, although apparently, the sponges were a ‘happy accident’ according to him.” Zayn knew he was being an idiot, but he couldn’t stop the flow of words now that he knew Liam was actually giving him a chance to speak.

“What does Louis have to do with it?” He sounded confused, but he kept talking. “I haven’t been sleeping well since Niall moved in and school is a lot harder than I expected.” He let out a sound of frustration that made Zayn’s lips quirk a bit as he imagined the look on Liam’s face.

“What are you doing?” The question slipped out before he realized he was even thinking it.

“Right now?” Liam chuckled. “I’m lying on my bed staring at the ceiling.” Zayn unplugged his phone, hoping it had charged enough to last a bit as he laid on his own bed. “If you ask me what I’m wearing, I’m hanging up.”

Zayn was glad he sounded happy as he talked, feeling comfortable enough to tease Zayn. After a few moments of comfortable silence during which Zayn found himself counting the stars on the ceiling. He remembered Liam’s question from earlier and he started telling him all of the things that Louis had done around the flat to get Liam to come up and visit.

“So, it wasn’t you,” Liam affirmed.

“Nope. It was all Louis. Well, except the leaky tap. I think that just happened, although maybe Louis did break it, just not intentionally.”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you when I should’ve yelled at him.” Liam’s voice was so soft that Zayn felt like he should be the one apologizing.

“Nah, I think he got enough yelling from me. Even told him I wished I’d never met him.” He smiled when Liam let out a small laugh.

There was a knock at Zayn’s door before his mum stuck her head inside. “Thought you were napping,” she scolded fondly.

“Sorry, mum. Just talking to Liam,” he told her, tongue pushing against the teeth of his smile as her eyes widened.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, then. You should invite him up for dinner,” she said as she closed the door, leaving Zayn staring agape at the door.

“Mate?” Liam’s voice sounded far away and Zayn realized he’d dropped the phone from his slack hand.

“Sorry. My mum came in,” he explained, pulling the phone back to his ear.

“Why didn’t you tell me your mum was visiting? I wouldn’t have been talking your ear off.” Liam’s words were becoming jumbled and awkward again.

“Actually, I came home to recover. I’m in my old room lying on Green Lantern sheets and staring up at glow-in-the-dark stars.” Warmth settled in his stomach as Liam chuckled quietly on the other end of the line. Taking a deep breath, he decided to extend his mum’s offer. “She said I should invite you to dinner. Wanna come?” Zayn was teasing, knowing the drive from London to Bradford would be a bit much just for dinner, but then he had another thought. “You could stay the night or a couple of days if you can get away from the building for that long.”

There was an extended silence on the phone and Zayn was afraid Liam had hung up because he’d been too forward and as he started to pull the phone away to check, he heard a very quiet, “Are you sure? Shouldn’t you ask your mum first?”

“My parents love when my friends come to visit. Honestly. Can you get time off?” Zayn found himself getting excited at the idea of spending time with Liam again, showing him around his hometown, getting to know each other better when it wasn’t just Zayn hanging around while Liam fixed things around the flats.

“I’m actually off already. I asked for a few days off at the end of the term to go back to Wolverhampton.” Zayn thought he heard him smiling and some other noises like he was moving around his room.

“Well, I don’t want to take you away from-”

“My parents went on a trip. They won’t be back for a few more days, so I can head there after visiting you.” Liam’s voice was matter-of-fact, but his words made Zayn’s heart soar. “Just text me your address and I’ll be on my way.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little later in the day than I usually like to post, but I was out pretty late last night at a bachelor party for a coworker of mine and slept in. 
> 
> Hope everyone is doing well!!!!
> 
> xx-Joey

A week later, Liam parked the car in his assigned area of the car park. With a smile, he glanced over at the boy sleeping in the passenger seat. His visit to Zayn’s family had segued into Zayn joining him at his parents’ home. They had left that day after tea with his mum hugging Zayn tight and insisting that he come to visit again soon, with or without her son. Liam shook his head at the memory of his mum telling him that Zayn was now her favourite and Liam better treat him right.

“Keep him,” his father had whispered in Liam’s ear the night he’d walked into the sitting room to find Liam and Zayn cuddled under a blanket and watching Netflix. It had left Liam blushing under Zayn’s questioning gaze, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how much he wished that he could do just that.

Now, it was time to get back to reality. Time to see Niall and Louis and even Harry again. Through talks with Zayn over the past week, his residual anger towards everyone had faded. He and Zayn had begun to see that Louis’ heart was in the right place even if his execution was a bit off the mark. Liam felt guilty for his anger towards Niall, remembering that the boy had allowed him to stay with him for weeks without even knowing him and refusing any type of payment and now he’d treated him like garbage without any tangible cause.

He shut the car off and reached over to run the back of his fingers gently down Zayn's cheek, having discovered quickly it was the most effective way to wake him up. “Zayn,” he whispered fondly as the boy snuffled in his sleep, rubbing his scruff against Liam's fingers. “We’re home. Need to get inside so you can go to bed.”

“You're waking me up to go to sleep?” Zayn asked, eyes still closed, lips quirking into a smile.  

“You’re far too logical for someone who’s half-asleep,” Liam teased, pinching Zayn’s cheek lightly, ducking out of the car as Zayn started to slap at his hand.

He was unloading the boot when Zayn came to stand next to him, reaching for his duffel, making a face when Liam refused to hand it over. “I can carry my own things.”

“Just let me do this for you. Your one hand might be doing better, but that cast isn’t coming off any time soon,” Liam told him, slamming the boot shut and heading towards the building, bags on each shoulder and one in his left hand. “I’ll just help you get this to yours and then go back to mine.”

They got inside and Zayn headed for the stairs, Liam opened his mouth to ask, but shook his head instead and followed him into the stairwell. By the time they made it to the fifth floor, he could tell Zayn’s energy was lagging again, so he wrapped an arm around his waist, letting him lean against him. He began to wonder when this touching became second nature, when it was more comfortable to be touching Zayn than not. 

Zayn dropped his keys when he fumbled them out of his pocket, so Liam bent down to pick them up, unlocking the door. “Show off,” Zayn muttered. With a shrug, Liam held the door while Zayn went in, calling Louis’ name and receiving no answer. “He must be at Harry’s.” 

Liam dropped his bags by the door as Zayn headed into the kitchen. Looking around, Liam decided to take Zayn’s bags to his room and check the walls to be sure nothing more had happened since he’d left, unsure if the person covering for him would’ve attempted to fix it. He was relieved to see nothing had been touched as he set the bag down on the floor, jumping slightly when Zayn entered the room, handing over a beer. 

“Louis left a note in the kitchen, not sure why he didn’t just text me.”

“Probably because you’ve been ignoring his calls,” Liam suggested, raising an eyebrow and laughing when Zayn looked sheepish.

“Anyway, Harry’s sister is in town and they’re all going out. They won’t be home until late, so he’s just going to stay at Harry’s tonight.” Liam watched Zayn reach out and trace the cut edges of the wall. “Wow. I’m sorry I created so much work for you.”

Liam felt his face warm up, remembering his needlessly cruel words. He set his beer down on the nightstand, watching as Zayn set his on the desk near the damaged wall. “I’m sorry I yelled at you that night.” He rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked up at Zayn who was watching him out of the corner of his eye. “Honestly, coming here to fix things was the highlight of my days. Although, now that I’m looking at this wall again, I might need to call in some professionals.”

He saw Zayn open his mouth and knew that another apology was on his lips. They’d been over this same back and forth apology dialogue just about every day they were together that week and, honestly, Liam knew Zayn was sorry. He knew that Zayn knew Liam was sorry. They didn’t need to keep doing this, so Liam cut off the apology the only way his brain could come up with. 

He kissed him.

Zayn froze. He’d been about to apologize for the umpteenth time, an apology he knew was no longer needed, but kept issuing because he hoped if he said it enough times his own guilt would abate. Even though Liam had extended his forgiveness each and every time, he kept feeling the need and he’d honestly expected Liam to tell him to shut up at some point. However, he’d never expected Liam to kiss him to stop him. It wasn’t until Liam pulled away, his face flushed and eyes looking to the ceiling, that Zayn realized he should probably have reacted a bit better; or rather, he should’ve reacted at all.

Liam was almost out the bedroom door before Zayn came back to his senses and grabbed for his arm. “Li, wait!”

Liam shook him off. “It’s alright. I always read everything wrong. I’ve got the worst instinct when it comes to people.” He was muttering, but Zayn heard and felt every word clearly. “Stupid, Liam. It’s Koldan all over again.”

“You weren’t wrong!” Zayn shouted as Liam disappeared, confused by most of what he’d said, but filled with the need to correct Liam’s belief that kissing Zayn had been the wrong thing to do. 

He started to race out of the room after him, but Liam chose that moment to duck back inside. Zayn collided into him, his broken hand bouncing off of the door frame as he lost his balance and began falling towards the floor. Thankfully, Liam was fast because instead of colliding with the hardwood floor, he found himself pulled against Liam’s chest, strong arms around his waist. Swallowing hard, Zayn raised his eyes from the birthmark on Liam’s neck to his eyes that were wide with a mix of emotions that Zayn couldn’t identify.

They stayed like that for several moments, neither speaking until Zayn darted his tongue out to wet his lips. With a low groan, Liam leaned forward to capture his mouth in another kiss. This time, it only took a second for Zayn to kiss back. He pulled his non-broken hand from between their bodies, wrapping his arm around Liam’s neck. He felt Liam’s embrace tighten enough to lift Zayn off his feet. They moved until they reached the bed, where Liam dropped him with a bounce, giggling when Zayn scoffed in mock outrage.

“I like you,” Liam blurted out.

“The word ‘duh’ comes to mind,” Zayn said, laughing when Liam frowned at him. “I like you, too, you donut. Have pretty much since that first day you knocked on my door looking like every hot handyman from cheap porn.” The pale pink that bloomed across Liam’s cheeks made Zayn smile. “Just got worse every time I saw you and your capable arse. Every single time you uttered, ‘I can fix that,’ it just got worse. Then when you took care of me while I was sick.” He let out a sound of fond exasperation as he struggled to put his words together. “Fuck, I can’t even begin to count the number of times I wanted to kiss you this past week.”

“Six hundred, four thousand, eight hundred times?” Liam asked after a moment of staring at the ceiling. 

Zayn choked out a laugh at the answer. “That’s rather specific.” He reached out to grab Liam’s shirt, pulling on it until Liam tumbled onto the bed with him.

“It’s how many seconds are in a week,” Liam told him, smiling widely. 

“That kind of information is just floating around inside your brain to spout off?” Zayn pushed his nose into Liam’s neck, smiling when Liam giggled.

“I might have worked it out in my head during the drive back since you were such great company with your sleeping and all.” He grasped Zayn’s chin to tilt his face up, brushing their lips together gently. 

When Liam pulled away, Zayn dove back in for another kiss, trying to keep him close. The kiss continued until Liam pulled away, breathing heavily. “I should go.” Zayn pouted out his lower lip, smiling when Liam mirrored the expression. “Don’t be like that. I’ll be back tomorrow to look at the wall again.”

“Just the wall?” Zayn asked, watching Liam stand, tugging at his shirt. He smirked as Liam locked eyes with him, blatantly adjusting himself. “I could help-”

“Not yet,” Liam said, smiling softly. “I’d kind of like to take you on a date first.” Zayn really liked that idea, even if he also liked the idea of skipping the date and getting rid of Liam’s clothes. “I’ll see y-”

“Stay. We don’t have to do anything. Just stay. I really hate being alone in the flat.” Although Zayn was lying and he could tell Liam didn’t believe him, he was happy to see him nod. 

“I did kind of get used to sharing a room with you,” Liam said as he looked around. “Guess a bed won’t be much different.” Zayn was glad there wasn’t going to be a ridiculous argument with Liam trying to sleep on the sofa or, even worse, Louis’ bed.

Moving silently, they both readied for bed. When Liam walked out of the room, Zayn had a moment of panic that he was going to leave, but Liam was back a moment later, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth and his duffle in his hand. They moved to the bathroom together, standing side by side as they brushed their teeth, trying not to spit on each other. When they were done, Zayn went back to his room, leaving Liam in the bathroom to change. 

Zayn was just pulling his blue and white striped pajama bottoms up when Liam entered the room wearing a pair of plain black boxers and a beat up white vest. Even though they’d shared rooms for a week, this was the first time Zayn had gotten a good look at what Liam slept in; he couldn’t seem to stop staring.

“Do I have toothpaste on my chin?” Liam asked, rubbing at it.

“No. I’m just debating if we can somehow get a date in right now,” Zayn responded, only half-kidding, but relieved when Liam laughed wholeheartedly.

He watched as Liam’s gaze trailed over him from head to toe and back again, their eyes meeting. “I could say the same and I’m really fighting my instincts here, but it’s really important to me to do this thing between us right.”

Zayn’s heart leapt at the thought that Liam was saying he wanted a relationship with him, not just a quick fling. Even if Liam didn’t realize that was what he was saying, it was what was being broadcast to Zayn and he wasn’t going to ignore the gem of a man that was now crawling into his bed. He slid in next to Liam, both of them realizing the overhead light was still on, but as Zayn moved to get out of bed, a hand on his arm stopped him.

“I’ve got it.” Before Zayn could even miss him, Liam was back in the bed, lying on his side, facing Zayn, propping himself up on his elbow. The soft light from the office building across the street filtered through the curtains, giving enough illumination for Zayn to see a small smile.

“You’re awfully far away,” Zayn said, reaching out. “I’m getting cold over here.”

“I can fix that,” Liam told him, sliding across the bed and wrapping his arms around Zayn, pulling him close.

The warmth from Liam’s body flowed through Zayn, making him want to cuddle even deeper into it. He tilted his head up and pressed a kiss to the birthmark on Liam’s neck, smiling when he felt a kiss pressed to the top of his head. “Good night, Liam,” he murmured, burying his face in Liam’s chest and letting the night, and Liam’s presence, lull him to sleep.

***

Liam woke slightly disoriented, the ceiling of the room didn’t look right. He blinked a few times, made to stretch his back, but stopped when he realized there was a warm weight on his chest. Glancing down, he could feel the smile breaking over his face at the mess of black hair tickling his sleep-warmed skin. Before he could even second guess himself, he pressed a kiss to the top of Zayn’s head, wondering if Zayn was the type of person who enjoyed those small signs of affection or if he was more standoffish when it came to those things. He smiled at the grumbles that Zayn made as he rubbed his nose against Liam’s shirt, but stayed asleep. Zayn definitely appeared to be a cuddler, a fact that made Liam’s heart beat faster.

Although he wanted to stay right where he was cuddling Zayn to his chest, he really had to wee. Sliding carefully out from underneath Zayn’s torso, he replaced himself with a pillow, giggling quietly when Zayn sighed and snuggled deeper into the pillow. He hurried to the washroom to relieve himself before wondering if Zayn would mind if he took a quick shower. Returning to the room, he indulged himself for a couple of minutes watching Zayn sleep, wishing he had some kind of artistic ability to immortalize the brush of Zayn’s lashes over his cheeks as he breathed deeply and evenly. 

Zayn jerked a bit in his sleep, muttering out some nonsense about blue Lucozade, snapping Liam out of his study and making him feel a bit creepy. Liam grabbed some clothes out of his duffle before returning to the bathroom. As he turned the water on, his eyes fell on the showerhead and he had a moment of guilt over the argument again, but quickly shook it away as he remembered all the discussions they’d had over the previous week and the kisses from the night before.

He also remembered just how badly he wanted to forgo a date to get into bed with Zayn and not in the way they already had last night. Pressing his forehead against the cool tile, he willed his mind out of the gutter and back onto planning an actual date. He was to the point where he was afraid his overactive imagination was going to force him to take matters into his own hands when he heard the door to the washroom open and close. He opened his mouth to call out to Zayn, but it was Louis’ voice that came from behind the curtain.

“You’re up early, Zee,” he said, and Liam could hear him moving around. He opened his mouth to say something, but Louis kept talking, the words coming rapidly and a bit muffled as if Louis were brushing his teeth. “Glad you made it back alright. Stayed in Bradford a bit longer than you planned, I guess. I just wish you’d let me know how you were doing, but I don’t blame you considering how angry you were with me. I really am sorry about it all. If there’s anything I can do to help you get back in Liam’s good graces, just let me know, yeah?” There was the sound of spitting, running water and the toothbrush tapping against the edge of the basin. “Gotta go. I just stopped in real quick before going with Harry to Holmes Chapel for Sunday Roast with his family. Niall’s coming, too. I’d invite you, but…” he trailed off and Liam realized that he was waiting for a response. After a moment of panic, he grunted in what he hoped was a Zayn-like way. “Figured I was still on your shit list. Won’t be back until late. I’ll probably stay at Harry’s so I don’t disturb you.” There was a pause and footsteps and Liam was about to release a breath when he heard a very quiet, “I really am sorry.”

Once he heard the bathroom door close, Liam remained still, waiting for something, but he didn’t know what. He was having a hard time making sense of everything Louis had just spewed out in a short amount of time. He hadn’t realized that things between Louis and Zayn had been strained or that Zayn had blamed his flatmate for what had happened between them. He felt a mix of guilt and warmth over the entire situation. That warmth soon became the prevalent emotion and he realized he had it really bad for Zayn.

The flat door slammed in the distance, so he shut off the water and climbed out of the shower. Drying off and dressing quickly, he headed back to Zayn’s room, smiling as he saw that he’d moved completely onto Liam’s side of the bed, face still burrowed into the pillow. Stepping out of the room, he headed into the kitchen, opening cupboards and smiling once he’d found what he was looking for. Quickly, he began making breakfast, trying to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake Zayn. He froze a couple of times when the pans banged together too loudly, but when he heard nothing from the other room, he returned his focus to cooking.

Once the pancakes were done, Liam looked around the kitchen for something to put the food on, figuring if Zayn hadn’t managed to rouse himself to come to breakfast, he would bring breakfast to him. He laughed as he found a board game; it wasn’t the ideal tray, but it was flat and sturdy. Liam carefully arranged the plates, silverware, syrup and coffee mugs on the box and walked slowly towards Zayn’s room.

“I smell coffee,” Zayn grumbled from the bed, still in the same position Liam had last seen him.

“And pancakes,” Liam said, smiling as he set the food on the nightstand before crawling into bed and shoving Zayn back over to the other side.

Zayn opened one eye to peek at Liam. “Chocolate chip?”

Liam grabbed a plate and cut off a bit of pancake, waving the fork in the air. “Come over here and find out.”

With a pout, Zayn began moving. The next thing he knew, Liam had a lap full of wriggling boy trying to lean over and get his mouth around the fork. “Hey!”

“What?” Zayn asked around the food he’d finally managed to get into his mouth. Then he stole the fork and cut off some pancake to hold it out for Liam to take a bite. He swallowed as he waved the fork around. “Here comes the airplane.”

“What am I? Five?” Liam asked, laughing before opening his mouth and allowing Zayn to feed him.

They continued sitting like that until both plates of pancakes were gone. When Zayn leaned over to get the coffee mugs, his eyes lit up. “Cluedo? Are we playing?”

Liam shrugged. “It wasn’t originally my plan, but that could work. I don’t have anywhere to be.”

Zayn grabbed the box, biting his lip after a moment. “Maybe we should move out front. In case Lou comes home.”

“Ashamed to have me in your bed, Malik?” Liam teased, tickling his side. “Besides, he went somewhere with Harry and Niall. Won’t be back until late.” He was smiling and feeling quite comfortable with Zayn still perched on his lap, but he was wondering if maybe it was the other boy who was uncomfortable with the situation. “If you want to move though-”

Zayn slid off Liam’s lap, moving over to the other side of the bed with the box in his hands. Liam missed the warmth immediately and made to climb out of the bed, stopping when he felt something hit him in the side of the head. He glanced down at the sheets, surprised to see the  _ Miss Scarlet _ piece lying there. “We can play here, but it would be too easy to cheat if I stayed in your lap.” Liam had to concede his point, watching as Zayn placed the playing pieces around the board, holding  _ Colonel Mustard _ in his hand, before dealing the cards out between them.

Liam started to hand  _ Miss Scarlet  _ back. “I want to-”

“Nope,” Zayn said, popping the ‘p’. “You’re  _ Miss Scarlet _ . I’m  _ Colonel Mustard. _ ”

“Why?” Liam asked as he accepted the decree anyway and picked up the dice, offering them to Zayn to start.

“Well,  _ Reverend Green  _ is missing. I suspect Harry stole it the last time we played because Louis kept hiding him.  _ Mrs. Peacock _ is usually Louis’ fave piece, but her head is missing and I don’t think you’ll be able to beat me without a head.”

“And the others?” Liam asked, picking up the purple and white pieces which Zayn quickly grabbed from him tossing them somewhere behind himself. 

“What others?” he asked innocently, smiling wide when Liam threw his head back to laugh, his entire body rocking from the force of it. The game pieces scattered and Zayn started digging for them as Liam tried to calm himself down.  “On second thought, it might be a better idea to play on a table before we lose more pieces.”

Liam took a deep breath, attempting to fight the giggles that were trying to escape, and failing miserably. Finally, he managed to get off the bed and grab the dirty plates in one hand, silverware balancing on top, and the mugs in the other. He watched Zayn scramble to pick up all the pieces, disappearing under the bed to retrieve  _ Mrs. White  _ who had bounced when she’d been thrown. Once Zayn was back out, sneezing from the dust, they walked together to the kitchen. 

While Zayn set up the game, Liam poured more coffee and then washed the plates and silverware from breakfast, figuring it would be pretty tough for Zayn to do one-handed without getting his cast wet. He was just setting them in the drying rack when he felt arms wrap around his waist and a kiss pressed to the back of his neck. “So, how pathetic does it make me that this domestic side of you is immensely attractive.”

“First, it’s my cooking and now, it’s my cleaning,” Liam teased as he turned himself in Zayn’s arms, cupping both of his cheeks before leaning in and rubbing their noses together. “I’m thinking you’re looking for a slave instead of a boyfriend.” He saw a twinkle in Zayn’s eyes wondering which of the words caused it. Laughing, he tilted his chin up to kiss the tip of Zayn’s nose. “Down, boy. Date first, remember?”

“Well, you fed me and now you’re entertaining me; that sounds like a date to me,” Zayn argued, trying to kiss Liam’s lips and laughing when he turned his head.

“We haven’t left the flat,” Liam argued. “I want to take you  _ out _ of the flat and show you off a bit.” Zayn pouted. “Don’t be like that. How about we play one game and then I’ll go.” Zayn’s pout got bigger and Liam grabbed his lower lip gently, tugging on it. “I’ll go and come back at around five and pick you up for a proper date.”

If he’d thought Zayn’s eyes were beautiful before, they were nothing compared to how they looked up close when he smiled his biggest smile. They looked like spun gold and he caught a glimpse of a spot of the colour floating in the white before Zayn leaned in again and this time Liam didn’t try to turn away from the kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies to anyone looking forward to a chapter about the boys in Bradford - I thought about it, but nothing flowed right when I tried. Maybe one day there will be an interlude, but maybe not.
> 
> See you Wednesday!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday!
> 
> It is very early in the morning (doing this before work and my eyes are barely open) so I hope anything I put in these notes makes sense.
> 
> This chapter was worked on almost a year and a half ago originally and I sent out a call on tumblr for help picking their date outfits and several people stepped up, but hell if I can remember who and I feel awful, so if it was you, dear reader, thank you for the help. I also had photo inspiration for them, but I can't find them now - even my awesome Google skills have let me down. The worst part is I can picture the photos in my head. *sigh* I hope I describe them well enough that you can, too.
> 
> Enjoy this second-to-last chapter and I'll see you Sunday!!!
> 
> xx-Joey

Five hours later, Zayn stood in front of his mirror, staring at his own wide eyes and trying to keep count of his erratic heartbeat. Liam would be there within a half hour and he was still stood in just socks, pants and jeans. He’d spent the last week with Liam in every variation of his wardrobe possible, but now he was at a loss as to what to wear for their date. Their first official date. A proper date as Liam had called it. What happened tonight could signal the beginning or the end. He swallowed hard as his nerves picked up and he hoped he wouldn’t sweat through whatever outfit he finally decided on before Liam even got there to pick him up. 

Grabbing his glasses off the nightstand where he’d left them when he’d tried to relax reading a book earlier, he glanced at the time on his phone. He realized Liam had never seen him in his glasses before and he didn’t think their first date was the time to debut them, but he slipped them on anyway.

He had already vetoed anything he had to button because his jeans were enough of a struggle with his cast. His phone beeped with the alarm he’d set earlier, letting him know he now had fifteen minutes left. He hurriedly grabbed a long white shirt, holding it up to his chest as he looked in the mirror, head tilted. It looked good with the black skinny jeans he had on, but he wasn’t sure if it was too long. With a shrug, he pulled it over his head and turned his body a few times looking in the mirror. 

After a moment, he scrunched his nose and pulled the shirt off, reaching instead for a more fitted white tee and pulling it on. Then he grabbed the blue and black plaid shirt with leather accents, shrugging into it. He decided his outfit was passable as he slipped into his favourite, most broken in, brown boots. They used to be his father’s, but after replacing their soles, he started to wear them. They always gave him a little bit of confidence, taking an edge off Zayn’s nervousness. He wrestled with the laces until they were at least tied enough to stay that way, although they were a bit on the loose side.

He was heading into the bathroom to do his hair when he heard a knock at the door. His eyes widened when he realized Liam was there and he hadn’t even started on his hair. With a groan, he raced into his room and grabbed one of his beanies and tugged it over his hair. Without even looking in the mirror, he hurried and pulled the door open. 

“Hey, Li….” his voice trailed off as he stared at Liam, his hand still raised as if he was going to knock on the door again.

“Hi, Zayn,” Liam said, moving his hand to rub against the back of his neck. 

Zayn looked him over, taking in the black henley underneath a shiny black leather jacket that looked soft to the touch. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and pinched it between his fingers and sighed because it was as soft as it looked. His eyes trailed down, taking in Liam’s legs encased in black denim and ending in boots that looked like they could’ve been made from the same leather as the jacket.

His eyes flew upwards when Liam chuckled. Zayn’s cheeks warmed at being caught blatantly checking him out but found Liam was doing the same, a smirk on his pouty lips. He took a minute to admire Liam’s hair, pushed up into a soft quiff that bounced as Liam moved. Zayn’s fingers itched to run through it but he was afraid it might be a bit forward. Regardless of whether petting his hair was too far, he took a step closer, stopping when Liam spoke again.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses,” he said, pointing towards Zayn’s face.

Zayn’s hand flew up, embarrassment flooding him, but Liam reached out and tangled their fingers together before he could take them off. “Don’t. I like ‘em. You look like a sexy secretary.”

Zayn snorted. “Just the look I was going for,” he joked as he rolled his eyes.

“You look nice,” Liam explained. “Really nice.” His voice was low and he moved even closer, invading his personal space in a way Zayn couldn’t find a good reason to complain about.

Zayn tilted his head up, smiling. “You clean up pretty good yourself.” He was still smiling as Liam brushed their lips together gently, pulling back with a smile before returning for a deeper kiss. “If you keep that up, we’ll never get through this date. A date which was your idea, let me remind you.”

“I have the worst ideas,” Liam said around a groan as he stepped back, squeezing Zayn’s hand. “Let’s go.” He stepped into the hallway, glad when Liam pulled the flat door shut and took Zayn’s keys to lock it so that they wouldn’t have to let go. He gave a grateful smile when Liam bypassed the lift and headed towards the stairs. “One of these days, I’ll get you in the lift, but today is not that day.”

“I appreciate you not giving me too hard a time about it. I swear one day that Louis is going to shove me in there. He just doesn’t get it.” He shook his head as they ventured further down.

“I can’t say I get it, but Niall’s claustrophobic, so he doesn’t like the lifts either,” Liam explained with a shrug. “Stairs are better for me anyway. Good exercise.”

They reached the lobby and Liam waved to Ms. Kravitz, who looked at their joined hands with a soft smile. “So, this is why you didn’t want to meet my grandson,” she teased Liam, pinching at his cheek. “Can’t say I blame you. He’s very handsome.”

Zayn laughed as Liam’s cheeks flared pink. “Thank you for your blessing, ma’am,” he said with a smile, releasing Liam’s hand to hold his own out. “I’m Zayn Malik. Fifth floor.”

“Beatrice Kravitz. Such a pleasure to know there is another polite young man in this building. I thought it was only Liam and the boy with the hair.” She made a motion next to her head like she was indicating long, wavy hair, convincing Zayn she was talking about Harry. “Have you met the loud one that the one with the hair hangs around with?” She made a sour face as she said it, but her eyes sparkled with mischief. 

Zayn laughed. “That would be Louis. He’s my flatmate, ma’am. He’s actually very polite, just excitable. In fact, you should come by for tea and meet him properly.”

Her face flushed. “You young men don’t want to entertain an old woman.” She was flustered, but Zayn could detect a hint of longing in her grey eyes.

“I insist. In fact, if you feel comfortable, please give me your number and we’ll make arrangements soon. Liam and Harry, the one with the hair, can join us.”

She giggled, a wrinkled and spotted hand covering her mouth, but the action made her appear much younger. “His name is Harry?” Zayn and Liam both nodded and Zayn noticed Liam’s eyes were soft as he watched them. “How apropos. I guess if you insist, I would love to join you.” Zayn pulled out his phone and carefully put the woman’s number in. “Now, you’ll have to call me. I don’t do any of that texting nonsense.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

“Stop that. Call me Trixie,” she instructed, smacking Zayn lightly on the arm. “I’ve held the two of you up long enough, go on and have a nice evening.”

“We will. Do you need anything while we’re out?” Zayn asked, smiling and waving as Trixie began to walk away, calling back her denial. “Have a wonderful night.”

They waited until she was inside the lift before turning back towards the door. Zayn gasped when Liam suddenly pulled him into his arms, kissing him firmly. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” 

“You have the innate ability to charm anyone, don’t you?” He shook his head, lips curling up in a soft smile. “Could you be any more perfect?” He whispered softly, mostly to himself, before turning to continue toward the door, Zayn scrambling to keep up, their clasped hands between them.

***

Liam was nervous. He’d been nervous since before he’d gotten to Zayn’s door, wondering if he was out of his mind to insist on an actual date when he didn’t have much experience dating and what little he’d had he’d done terribly. Then Zayn had opened the door and gazed up at him through those damn glasses. He’d never really thought of glasses as sexy, and he certainly hadn’t thought Zayn could get any sexier, but he’d been proven wrong on both counts in a split second. 

As they headed back to the car, after a quick dinner at a small diner Liam had stumbled upon and the new  _ Power Rangers  _ film, he wasn’t sure what to do next. He’d only planned so much for the evening and it wasn’t early, but not late either. He really didn’t want to just drop Zayn off and call it a night.

He knew what he wanted to do, what he’d been wanting to do since they’d kissed the night before. If he were being honest, it was something he’d wanted to do since the moment Zayn had opened the door to Liam for the first time.

He wanted to do Zayn.

He smiled when he felt Zayn’s fingers tangle with his as they walked to the carpark. Glancing over, he saw concern darkening his golden eyes. He felt guilty, so he smiled and stopped walking to press a quick kiss to Zayn’s lips.

“You’re light years away,” Zayn said, reaching up with his free hand to cup Liam’s cheek. “Bored with me already?”

Liam shook his head, kissing him again. “Mind’s actually a bit closer than a light year. More like ten kilometres.” Zayn tilted his head, eyes questioning as his fingers traced down Liam’s cheek to his neck, tapping the birthmark gently. Liam felt his face heating up as he leaned close to Zayn’s ear, hoping his words came across as seductive rather than embarrassed. “Your bed.” The small sound Zayn let out assured Liam he sounded more confident than he’d expected. “Or mine.”

“You told me Louis was staying at Harry’s tonight,” Zayn responded, his words muffled in Liam’s neck as his teeth scraped along the tendon.

“Yours, then,” Liam answered, regretfully pulling away from Zayn and tugging him the rest of the way to where they’d parked the car. 

The short ride seemed to take twice as long, between the traffic and Zayn’s fingers tracing lazy circles on the inside of Liam’s thigh. Twice, Liam had to clamp his hand down over Zayn’s to get him to stop before they ended up in an accident, apologizing each time Zayn gasped from the pressure on his injured knuckles. The third time, when Zayn managed to yank his hand away in time, Liam glared out of the corner of his eye, but he just giggled and innocently asked, “What?”

Once they were stopped in the carpark near the building, Liam turned the car off, shoved his seat back and pulled Zayn over into his lap, laughing at the other boy’s surprised yelp. They fidgeted around until Zayn was more or less comfortably straddling Liam’s lap. He had to keep his head ducked to avoid bumping it on the roof of the car, but that wasn't a problem when Liam pulled him in for a kiss. They continued making out, Liam’s pants growing even tighter than they had been from Zayn’s gentle caresses, until Zayn shifted his hips causing his bum to rub against the steering wheel, beeping the horn.

They burst into laughter, foreheads pressed together as they caught their breath. A clap of thunder froze them both as they looked out the windows of the car, watching as the sky lit up with lightning. After another heartbeat, rain began to pour down on the car, shaking it as they sat there in awe. 

“Make a run for it?” Zayn asked and Liam nodded. 

Zayn pushed the door open and hopped out. Liam started to climb out after him and realized he hadn’t undone his safety belt yet. Struggling with it, he shouted to Zayn, “Go on!” Next thing he knew, an already soaked Zayn was leaning over him and helping undo his lap belt. Once Liam was free and out of the vehicle, he grabbed Zayn’s hand and they ran together for a moment before stopping and laughing as the rain pelted around them.

“We’re already drenched!” Liam shouted.

Zayn nodded before stepping into Liam’s space. “Fancy a snog in the rain? Supposed to be, like, romantic.”

Instead of answering, Liam ran his arms around Zayn’s waist and pulled him close. As he pressed their lips together, he moved and lifted Zayn up, urging him to wrap his legs around his waist. The kiss continued through laughter as Liam tried to watch where he was going over Zayn’s shoulder. They made it to the door of the building and working together got the door open without Zayn having to let go of Liam. They were halfway across the lobby when they heard another rumble of thunder that shook the building.

“That’s a nasty storm, but I’m having fun,” Zayn said against Liam’s lips. 

Liam was thankful the lobby was empty when Zayn ground his hips down, dragging a groan out of him that echoed slightly. Liam pressed Zayn against the wall and pressed the call button for the lift, continuing to kiss him until he heard the ding. Walking into the lift, he moved his assault from Zayn’s lips to his neck. He ended up chuckling when Zayn smacked him on the back.

“The lift? Thought you said today wasn’t the-” His words got lost in a moan when Liam bit down on the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

Liam chuckled against his damp skin, running his tongue over the bitten spot. “Yep. Easier than carrying you up the stairs and qui-” Liam stopped as soon as there was another rumble of thunder and the lights in the lift went out and it shuddered to a stop. “Shit.”

He felt Zayn’s body stiffen in his arms. “Li,” he whimpered, his arms and legs tightening around Liam’s body. 

“Hey, it’s alright,” Liam said, moving towards the control panel and hitting the emergency button, groaning when nothing happened. He tried to put Zayn down to get his phone out of his pocket, but he held onto him like a spider monkey. “I need to get my phone.” He felt fumbling and then Zayn was pressing a phone against his chest. As he grasped it, he recognized it as Zayn’s, not his own. “Do you have the building manager’s phone number in here?” Zayn shook his head. “Then I really need to put you down, but I promise, I won’t let go, yeah?”

It took a few minutes, but he felt Zayn loosen his hold and slide his legs down to stand. Liam wrapped one arm around his waist, keeping him pressed close as he dug out his phone. Unlocking it, he was thankful for the case that kept the rain from frying it. He found the number quickly and pressed to connect. He rubbed his hand up and down Zayn’s back as it rang, letting out a huff of irritation while rolling his eyes as the voicemail picked up. “Mr. Parker, it’s Liam Payne. I’m calling to tell you that the power has gone out in the Windsor Arms building and I’m stuck in the lift with a tenant. Please call back soon.” He left his number and hung up, pressing his nose to Zayn’s cheek. “Alright?”

“How long do you think?” 

“I don’t know. I’m honestly-” He cut off when the pager in his pocket started buzzing continuously. He pulled it out and started to laugh. “For fuck’s sake.” He tilted the display toward Zayn. “Five emergency pages for the power. Some of these tenants have more faith in me than they should.”

“I’d call you,” Zayn said, his voice still quiet.

“And I’d come running,” Liam assured him, pressing kisses all over Zayn’s face, trying to distract him.

“I hate the dark even more than the lift.” The confession was quiet and had Zayn’s lips not been so close to Liam’s ear, he would’ve missed it.

“Seriously?”

“Don’t make fun. If it were just stuck, I’d be irritated, but the dark is freaking me out,” Zayn explained. “Aren’t there, like, emergency lights in here?”

“They should come on-” A dull glow came from a couple of lights at the tops of the walls. “There they are.” He could still feel Zayn trembling in his arms, but he wasn’t sure if it was from fear or the fact that the air in the lift was cool against their drenched skin. “I’m going to call Niall. Maybe he can manage to get the doors open and pass us some blankets.” He felt Zayn’s cast against his chest and he sighed. “And some towels to dry your cast off.” Zayn let out a small curse at that and pulled back to poke at his cast.

As he found Niall’s contact, he opened his jacket and pulled Zayn as close to him as he could, hoping that their meagre body heat would be enough. 

“Payno!” Niall shouted as he picked up. “I was just about to call you.”

“Yeah? By any chance, are you in the flat?” He pressed a kiss to Zayn’s forehead as the man tried to snuggle in closer.

“No. That’s why I was going to call. The boys and I are staying at Harry’s mum’s tonight. This storm is awful and Louis doesn't want to risk driving in it. Why did you want to know if I was home? What’s going on?”

He opened his mouth to tell him but snapped it shut instead. He could already imagine Niall’s reaction to the thought of him being trapped in the lift. “Nothing. I’m out of the building and I got a bunch of pages about the power and wondered if it was the whole building or just a few flats.” They talked for another few moments, but then hung up when Harry started yelling about storm safety in the background.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Zayn asked, leaning his head back while trying to stay close. 

“He’s with Harry and Louis at Harry’s mum’s house. We don’t need him worrying when there’s nothing he can do from there,” Liam explained. He rubbed his hands up and down Zayn’s back, glad that the shivering seemed to be subsiding, but hoping that it wasn’t an indication of hypothermia. He answered his phone when it rang, keeping an eye on Zayn. “Mr. Parker? Unfortunately, I can’t do much stuck in the lift.” He chuckled as the other man started complaining about the craziness of life. 

The conversation quickly took a turn for the worse. “Emergency teams are out all over the city and two healthy adults stuck in a lift are not a high priority, so I don’t know how long you’ll be in there.”

“Makes sense,” Liam agreed, but his heart sunk as he looked down at Zayn who was still holding on tightly despite the dim emergency lights. “Do you think someone could at least bring blankets or something? We got a bit drenched in the rain and it’s cold in here. Maybe some towels as well,” Liam added as Zayn pointed to his cast.

“I’ll see what I can do, Liam,” Mr. Parker promised. “Just hold tight, yeah?”

They hung up and Liam moved to lean against one of the walls, pulling Zayn down with him until he was sitting between his legs with his back to Liam’s chest. “We’re stuck.” It wasn’t a question, but Liam nodded against his shoulder anyway. “Could be worse. I could be alone,” Zayn said, bumping Liam’s chin and leaning back to smile at him, but the glow didn’t meet his eyes.

“It’s my fault we’re stuck in here. We should’ve taken the stairs,” Liam apologized. “If we had, we’d already be in your flat…” He trailed off trying to convey the end of the sentence with his eyebrows, he’d been told they were rather expressive.

Zayn’s smirk told him that he’d gotten his point across. He turned around to kneel between Liam’s legs, the smile on his face growing a bit and something sparkling in his eyes as it did. “So, how long do you think we’ll be stuck in here?”

“Hopefully, not too long.” Liam pressed the button on his phone, checking to see it’d only been fifteen minutes since he’d first called Mr. Parker. “I just really hope they get some blankets to us. It’s a bit chilly.”

His attention was pulled away from his phone by Zayn grasping his chin between his thumb and forefinger and leaning in close. “Maybe we can figure out another way to warm up,” he whispered before pressing their lips together.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Sunday, my dear readers!
> 
> Well, here we are, the final chapter. The day I've been dreading and looking forward to for a month. I'm so thankful to all of you that have read and posted such nice comments; you are all rock stars.
> 
> Now, I just want to point out since there was an issue yesterday and I want to make this very, very clear. There will be sex in this chapter. It is TOP LIAM PAYNE (as stated in the tags since day one) and there is a mention of Daddy Kink. If these things are not your cup of tea, back out of the fic and go read something else. There are a lot of quite lovely Bottom Liam fics out there for you to read and gush over. If you do choose to read on despite absolutely abhorring TOP LIAM PAYNE, please refrain from leaving a nasty comment.
> 
> To everyone else, thank you again for being wonderful. Much thank yous, again, to my betas Marie, Jenn, and Cristina. Thank you to those who gave me feedback in the two years I've been working on this, as well.
> 
> Just thank you to the wonderful people and always as when I post smut (which if you know me, you know is rare because it takes me literally a year to write), I'm going to run away and hide now.
> 
> xx-Joey

Zayn put everything he could into the kiss, trying to make himself forget where they were and focus only on Liam and the images that had been running through his head the entire night. It had taken more willpower than he’d thought he was capable of not to reach over and grope Liam while they’d sat in the dark of the movie theatre. He’d settled for holding his hand, rubbing circles into the back with his thumb. During an emotional moment in the movie, Zayn had lifted their joined hands, brushing his lips against the back of Liam’s before using his free hand to wipe at the tears he’d failed to hold back. Warmth had filled him as Liam had squeezed his hand and bumped their shoulders together.

The drive home had been even more difficult. The windows kept fogging up, so Liam had turned on the defroster which filled the cart with a moist heat increasing the potency of Liam’s cologne, overwhelming Zayn’s senses in all the best ways. Then when Liam had pulled him into his lap, he’d thought for sure they wouldn’t have made it out of the vehicle before they were pulling their clothes off and although he’d never been a fan of exhibitionism, he’d been turned on enough to throw away all modesty and hook up with Liam right there in the car park. Then he’d bumped the horn and broken the heated mood between them, the icy rain cooling it almost completely. Although, once they’d begun making out as it poured over them, it was as if they’d never stopped. 

He’d felt the fear overpower him when the lift had shuddered to a stop, killing his arousal so fast it’d been almost painful. Liam’s concern had caused fondness to bloom in his chest. The tears in Liam’s eyes after talking to his boss had quieted his discomfort, awakening a desire to fix the situation, or at least make it more bearable. His fears had become secondary to Liam’s happiness.

In less than a day, Zayn had discovered kissing Liam was definitely one of his favourite things to do, so counting on Liam feeling the same way, he used his grip on Liam’s chin to tilt his face to deepen the kiss. Zayn smiled against Liam's lips as a small sigh escaped them. Nibbling his lower lip gently as he broke the kiss, Zayn couldn’t hide his smug grin. Zayn released Liam’s chin, using the tips of his fingers to brush across the stubble on his jaw as he took in Liam’s glazed over look.

"Not sure I'm warm yet," Liam teased, his voice deep as he pulled Zayn to straddle his lap, pressing a soft kiss against the side of his neck, working his way lower with gentle bites between words. "We might need to keep this up for a while." Pulling back to look up at Zayn, he pressed his fingers against the beginning of an impressive love bite along the collar of his shirt.

Zayn wiggled his eyebrows. "I suppose we could keep kissing," Zayn said, moving his better hand down over Liam's chest, flicking an already hardened nipple through the dampness of his shirt and letting out a sound he refused to acknowledge as a giggle when Liam whimpered. "Or we could continue what we started in the car."

Zayn's fingers managed to undo the button on Liam's jeans while he'd been talking. He knew that the denim was too wet to pull off quickly and he wasn't sure how much time they had together before help of some form arrived, but that didn't rule out all of their options.

Crawling backwards on his knees and pulling down Liam's zipper, Zayn stretched his fingers through the slit and into the wet fabric of Liam's boxers hoping, for the first time, that his hands weren't still chilled from the rain outside. Any of Liam's declarations of propriety died in a hiss of pleasure as Zayn’s fingers danced along the length.  "You like that?" Zayn asked, leaning forward to kiss Liam again.

"What if there are cameras?" Liam asked, his eyes flitting around the small space, but returning to Zayn’s.

Zayn fought back a wince struggling to find its way to his face because he hadn't thought of that, but then the emergency lights flickered out, leaving them in complete darkness. He swallowed down his panic and faked a smile he knew Liam couldn’t see but could feel against his cheek as he whispered in his ear, "Well, I guess we don't need to worry about that anymore." He hoped his voice sounded more confident than it felt. Fear sat rock hard in his stomach, but he focused on Liam in an attempt to ignore the emotion that was trying to take over.

Slowly and with great deliberation, Zayn pressed kisses down Liam’s clothed chest, tugging at it with his teeth a few times to pull a chuckle and a gentle touch of his hands from Liam. He kept it up until he reached Liam’s open fly. Ignoring the burn of the fabric brushing his bruised knuckles, he managed to wrap his hand around Liam’s cock as much as his boxers allowed. Zayn pressed a gentle kiss over where he suspected the head of Liam’s cock to be, smirking triumphantly as he tasted the faint salty bite of precum that had soaked through. 

Zayn was disappointed that he could only make out the general shape and none of the details of the heat he held in his hand. Even without his vision, he could tell there was much more still confined by Liam’s jeans. A thrill ran through him as he tried to picture Liam’s cock, definitely not for the first time. Luckily, sight was the only sense hindered at the moment as he used the hand not gently stroking to trace fingertips over the tip through the fabric before pulling the waistband down carefully, thankful that his cast didn’t leave that hand completely useless in this instance. Once the head of Liam’s cock was fully exposed to the air, Zayn moved his hand from within Liam’s boxers to wrap more firmly around the tip, smiling as he felt the foreskin there. Using his hands to explore while Liam’s quiet sounds filled his ears, Zayn created a mental image of what he was feeling.

"Tease," Liam whispered, his voice rough as one hand threaded into Zayn's hair and the other cupped his cheek, thumb running over his lower lip.

Zayn chuckled before collecting a bit of the precome gathered at the tip and sucking his fingers into his mouth. He exaggerated the sound to ensure Liam wouldn't worry about why he'd pulled away, but the press of fingers against his hollowed cheeks let him know that Liam was well aware of his actions.

Pulling his fingers out with a pop, Zayn turned his head and took Liam’s into his mouth, suckling gently for a moment before releasing them and returning his attention to Liam’s cock. Shuffling back even further, he bent to press a gentle kiss to the sticky head before slipping his tongue across it, humming at the taste. Liam’s hand tightened in his hair as he opened his lips over the tip, sliding down until his own hand prevented him from going any further.

He moved his hand, stretching his lips even more as he took in more of Liam until the waistband of Liam’s pants stopped him. He couldn't tug them down any further due to his jeans, letting out a low growl of frustration which startled Liam into raising his hips. One of Liam’s legs brushed against Zayn’s erection, dragging a groan out of him.

Refocusing his attention, Zayn began to slowly bob his head, attempting to pull Liam deeper each time. As he moved, he ground his cock against Liam’s shin, thankful for the friction. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been blowing Liam, but his jaw was beginning to grow sore. He could tell Liam was close, the precome becoming thicker and stronger tasting. and he was working himself close to the edge. Just as he was about to push himself over, Liam dropped his leg and pulled Zayn up gently by his hair.

Liam giggled at Zayn’s protest, moving to grab a belt loop to keep him from rubbing against his leg some more. “Don't. I know you’re close. So am I, but I want to be responsible the first time you come in my presence. Not my leg. You're not a dog. A god, maybe. Definitely not a dog.”

Laughter burst out of Zayn as he leaned in to kiss Liam, smiling as their teeth clacked together. He pulled back to say something as a loud bang came from above them and the doors to the lift began to slide open. Quickly, Zayn pulled off his plaid shirt, cursing as the sleeves caught on his cast, and threw it over Liam’s lap just as a head poked into the lift.

“Hey, Liam,” a tenant Zayn recognized said. “Mr. Parker called and said you might need some blankets and towels.” There was a soft thud and then a louder one. “I brought some joggers and shirts and a torch, too. News said power is already being restored in parts of the city; the storm is already passing. So, God willing, you shouldn’t be trapped in here too much longer.”

Zayn froze at the word ‘trapped,’ but Liam brought him out of his daze by nudging him towards the items that had been dropped into the lift. “Thanks, Gabriel,” Liam said.

“No worries. You can just keep those things when you’re done or donate them, if you wish. You have my number, so just give me a shout if you need anything else,” Gabriel said, his head disappearing as the doors closed again.

Liam dropped his head back against the wall with a thud, laughter shaking his body as Zayn moved back into his lap, struggling to do up Liam’s jeans before pulling the blankets over them, thankful for the added warmth. Working as quickly as they could and struggling to stay beneath the blankets, they both shrugged out of their wet clothes and pulled on the dry clothing. “Gabriel collects clothing for his church,” Liam explained as they curled up next to each other beneath the blankets. “I’m glad Mr. Parker called him.”

Zayn flicked the torch on and off nervously, watching it glow through the pink blankets. “So…”

Liam pressed a kiss to Zayn’s temple. “So, why don’t we play twenty questions to pass the time until we can get out of here and pick up where we left off in the privacy of your flat.”

Zayn whipped his head around. “You want to?”

Liam licked his lips, his voice lowering as he whispered, “Oh, I want to. I definitely want to.” Zayn felt Liam’s words in the bottom of his stomach, vibrating through him, all of the blood returning to his cock and making him moan; the sound cut off when Liam pushed their lips together again.

Liam dragged himself out of the kiss and used his hands on Zayn’s arms to set a bit of distance between them as they caught their breath. “Okay, twenty questions. You go first.”

Zayn pouted for a moment, but settled back against the wall, leaning his head on Liam’s shoulder as he tried to come up with a question. He went through a laundry list of simple questions, trying to come up with something big but was about to just give up and ask Liam what his favourite song was when he remembered a name that Liam had mentioned during their arguments.

“Who, or what, is Koldan?” he asked. Liam’s eyes widened and Zayn started backpedalling. “Never mind...what is your favourite song?”

Liam shook his head. “No, it’s alright, I should tell you about him.” Liam fiddled with the edges of the blankets until Zayn laid his hand over Liam’s, stilling the fidgeting. Liam took a deep breath, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall, tilting his face toward the ceiling.

“I met Koldan while I was travelling. He was Russian and spoke next to no English, while I spoke even less Russian. Despite the language barrier, we began to explore together.” Liam’s voice was soft, nostalgic and although Zayn had no idea what had happened between the two, he was acutely jealous of Koldan.

“How long were you together?” Zayn asked when Liam’s silence went on for too long.

Liam let out a choked laugh. “That’s the problem, innit? We weren’t  _ together, _ I just thought we were because I’m stupid and for whatever reason, I am a gay man who has absolutely no gaydar.” He rubbed a hand over his face, dragging it down from forehead to chin before turning to look at Zayn. His eyes were damp and Zayn was ready to give up on the question before tonight’s mood had been spoiled altogether.

“There had to be something to make you think you were together as opposed to just thinking he might be interested? A drunken snog, maybe? Shared bed and inadvertent morning wood?” It wasn’t like the same thing hadn’t happened to him over the previous week and he had several moments of whether or not Liam was interested in him.

“Well, yeah, to both of those, but he was also just so…” Liam trailed off, his hands begin to fidget again. “I’ve had a lot of male friends, but they weren’t physically affectionate. Koldan would hold my hand when we were in a new place. He kissed me on the cheek all the time, even when sober. He was always touching me and hugging me.” He shook his head. “He’d cuddle me when we slept.”

“I guess I can see how you were confused,” Zayn said sympathetically, hating to see the distant sorrow in Liam’s beautiful brown eyes. Although he was afraid of breaking whatever spell Liam was under and stopping the storytelling, he couldn’t keep himself from asking, “So, how did you find out that you weren’t together?” Zayn asked, suddenly afraid to touch him for fear of breaking him out of his storytelling.

 

***

By the time the lift began moving again, Zayn and Liam had talked themselves hoarse between rounds of snogging peppered with cheeky gropes to distract from too-serious topics that made Liam’s eyes leak and Zayn’s heart break. The trembling of the lift scared the both of them and they jerked apart before Zayn threw himself back into Liam’s lap, trembling. As they felt the lift beginning to ascend, they scrambled to their feet, laughing as they took note of the other’s obvious arousal.

Holding the blankets and their still-damp clothes in front of their crotches as naturally as they could, which meant completely awkwardly. When the doors opened on the fifth floor, revealing an empty and quiet corridor, they let out twin breaths of relief before laughing nervously and crossing the hall to Zayn’s door.

Zayn fumbled his keys as he unlocked the door, pushing it open to let Liam enter first, his eyes drifting lower to the too-large joggers hanging heavy and revealing nearly his entire boxer brief clad bum. Smirking, Zayn reached out to pinch one cheek before turning to close and lock the door.

Liam crowded Zayn against the door, his erection pressing roughly into Zayn’s lower back as teeth nipped at Zayn’s ear. “I have to ask - how much did you prepare for tonight?”

Zayn swallowed audibly. “Meaning?”

Liam chuckled, his breath cooling the dampness on Zayn’s earlobe while heat grew in his stomach. “Meaning...when you were in the shower earlier, how thoroughly did you prepare yourself?”

Zayn’s brain short-circuited as he took in Liam’s words, the timber of his voice shooting through him. He opened his mouth to answer, but his breath had escaped him. It took Liam lifting the back of his shirt with one hand while the fingers of the other brushed over the waistband of his joggers to bring his brain back online. “As thoroughly as my hands allowed,” Zayn gasped out. 

“Everywhere?” Liam’s hand slipped pointedly between Zayn’s pants and denim, teasing the tight pucker between his cheeks.  

“Everywhere,” Zayn agreed, a whimper drawing out the word.

“Thank god,” Liam gasped out before dropping rapidly to his knees with a curse, both hands working around Zayn’s waist to yank his joggers and pants to the ground. He grasped one cheek in each hand, squeezing roughly and repeating the gesture when it surprised a squeak out of Zayn. “This is alright, yeah?”

Zayn had a good idea what Liam was asking, but even if he didn’t, saying ‘no’ to anything Liam had in mind as he massaged and moulded his bum didn’t seem possible. “Yes. Please.”

“Since you asked so nicely,” Liam responded before they both started giggling. “Cue the cheesy porn dialogue.” He pressed his forehead against the small of Zayn’s back, his breath ghosting over the top of his arse.

“Should I go put some cheesy tunes on?”

Liam growled low in his throat. “You’re not going anywhere, young man,” Liam teased, voice sounding firm and sending a shiver up Zayn’s spine.

Zayn rolled his eyes and gave a sarcastic, “Yes, Daddy.” His eyes widened when Liam groaned before pressing forward to lick over his opening. “Shit. Really?” Liam nodded against him as he continued to taste and tease Zayn. “So noted.”

Zayn rested his forehead against the door, one hand reaching back to tangle in Liam’s hair, not guiding, but just grounding himself as Liam’s tongue circled and dipped, teeth pressing gently into sensitive flesh. His dick twitched when he felt one of Liam’s fingers join his tongue, rubbing gently around the puckered flesh before applying pressure. 

Soon, Liam sat back on his heels, his finger pressing in with little difficulty due to his enthusiastic rimming, but also too easy for the digit to be coated in nothing but saliva. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Liam squeezing a small packet of lube over another finger, brown eyes locked on his middle finger already disappearing in and out of Zayn. Glancing around, he noticed Liam’s jeans lying with another packet of lube and a couple of condoms sticking out of the pocket.

“A bit presumptuous,” he gasped out as two fingers slid in, the stretch cutting off anything else he’d wanted to say.

Liam’s head snapped up, cheeks flushing, shy smile gracing his lips, an angelic expression compared to the wicked way he curled his fingers, brushing against Zayn’s prostate as if they had been guided there. “Hopeful, actually.” 

“Fucking scout, weren’t you?” Zayn asked, panting as he began to rock back on Liam’s fingers, smiling as a third finger began tracing his rim.

“If you’re complaining, I could stop. Go home,” Liam teased, his gaze still locked on his fingers. 

“Not complaining,” Zayn answered, reaching back to grasp Liam’s wrist to keep him from pulling his fingers out. “Just wondering if you kept the uniform.” Liam’s face filled with disgust as he looked up at Zayn. “You’re right. That’s just wrong.” They both chuckled, Zayn’s trailing off into a whine as Liam removed his fingers. 

“Shush,” Liam whispered completely removing Zayn’s joggers and pants before standing and kissing Zayn on the nose. “I don’t want our first time to be up against a door.” He pressed closer to kiss Zayn, managing to turn him in his arms at the same time so they were chest to chest.  Reaching down he ran his hands over Zayn’s hips, squeezing gently before continuing down to lightly tap the back of his thighs. Liam pressed his smile against Zayn’s lips when he got the hint and jumped up, wrapping his legs around Liam’s waist.

Moving slowly, Liam watched over Zayn’s shoulder as he carried him down the hallway. Zayn focused on making a mark over the birthmark on Liam’s neck, nipping harder when Liam groaned and pushed him up against the wall outside of Louis’ bedroom. “Wrong room,” he whispered, licking across Liam’s slack mouth. “Even if he deserves it after all his shit.”

“Just had to kiss you again,” Liam said, touching their foreheads together before joining their lips. His hands squeezed Zayn’s arse as the kiss deepened and Zayn ground against him, the softness of Liam’s joggers still too rough against the aching hardness of his cock. “Don’t want to stop kissing you.”

Zayn pulled back from the kiss. “I’m loving the kissing,” he whispered, “but just a few more steps down the hall and we can do so much more.” He smacked Liam’s shoulder and dug his heels into his back when he didn’t move except to suck Zayn’s earlobe into his mouth, teeth nipping just the other side of gently. “C’mon, babe, Just a few more steps and we can get naked and you can get inside me.” 

They burst into laughter as Liam stumbled in his haste to pull away from the wall and continue down the hallway. Kicking the door open and then shut behind them, Liam strode across the room toward the bed. He lowered Zayn to stand before using a hand on his shoulders to make him sit on the edge and kneeling in front of him. Skimming his hands up Zayn’s thighs, he curled his fingers to scratch lightly back down them before moving his hands to pull first Zayn’s shirt and then his own off. Leaning in, he placed a kiss in the centre of Zayn’s chest.

“Let me look at you,” Zayn said, pushing on Liam’s shoulders. He wanted to see if reality lived up to what he’d imagined in the darkness of the lift. Sliding up the bed, he leaned back on his elbows and tilted his head, watching Liam intently as he stood and removed his remaining clothing. He swallowed audibly when Liam’s hard cock bounced up against his stomach, the tip standing proudly from the foreskin and glistening. It was larger than he’d been able to imagine and suddenly he wanted to explore it even more than he already had. Licking his lips, he beckoned Liam toward him.

Crawling up the bed, Liam moved to straddle Zayn’s waist, holding his cock in a loose grip and rubbing it over his lips. He pulled it away when Zayn snuck his tongue out to get a taste. “Tease,” Zayn muttered before dropping his jaw and giving Liam an expectant look.

Reaching out with his free hand, Liam brushed his knuckles over Zayn’s cheek before guiding his cock past Zayn’s lips and over his tongue, hissing at the warmth. Liam slid in deeper, stopping when he felt himself nudge the back of Zayn’s throat. “Tap my hip if you need me to pull out.” Zayn gave a thumbs up before tightening his lips around Liam’s length.

Liam leaned over Zayn to grasp the headboard for leverage as he moved his hips lazily, taking his time to luxuriate in the feelings that flowed through him. As the pleasure built, so did the speed of his hips. At one point, he felt Zayn’s hand on his hip and started to pull out, but Zayn dug his nails in and gave a slight shake of his head.

Zayn hadn’t meant to make Liam think he needed to stop, he just wanted to touch the man's bare skin, feel the warmth of it beneath his fingers as the taste of Liam filled his mouth, growing stronger with each burst of precome. Just when he thought he was going to have to tap out, Liam knee walked backwards, removing himself from Zayn’s mouth, index finger and thumb wrapped tightly around the base of his cock while his other fingers were cradling his balls.

“Don’t want this to end too soon,” Liam breathed out, moving so that he was lying completely over Zayn and kissing him deeply, tasting himself on his tongue.

“Definitely not,” Zayn teased, nipping at Liam’s lower lip, rubbing his hands up Liam’s back before dragging his nails down. Liam arched into the burn, groaning loudly. 

They continued to kiss for several more moments, rocking their hips in slow movements, small whimpers escaping each time their slick cocks brushed together. Zayn ran his hands into  Liam’s hair, tugging a bit to break the kiss. He pressed his forehead against Liam’s panting, chest heaving as he took in a breath. 

“Even though I fancy kissing you and I could keep it up all night, I really need you to fuck me,” Zayn said, his voice firm but his lips curling in a tender smile.

In a move that was the total juxtaposition of the situation, Liam tenderly kissed the tip of Zayn’s nose before moving down his body, pressing kisses as he went until he slid his lips over Zayn’s length. Reaching down, he pressed two fingers into Zayn, moving his head with the thrust of Zayn’s hips to avoid gagging. After a couple of moments, he pulled off and groaned, pressing his head against Zayn’s thigh. 

“I left the lube and condom by the front door,” he whispered, raising his head to glare when Zayn chuckled before he began shuffling away. “Where are you going?”

Zayn pointed towards his nightstand. “You’re not the only one who was prepared,” he told him as he reached towards the drawer again, banging his cast on the edge of the nightstand and letting out a yelp. Curling into himself, he barely missed Liam’s chin with his knee. “Fuck.”

Liam reached for Zayn’s casted hand, trying to gently pull him into a sitting position and checking on him. He managed to get Zayn pulled into his lap, one leg on each side of his hips, holding his head against his shoulder as Zayn cradled his cast against his chest and continued to curse under his breath. Liam ran his hands up and down Zayn’s back, pressing kisses to the side of his face until he felt Zayn begin to relax against him.

Zayn buried his face in Liam’s neck as the intensity of the pain began to ebb. As his mind cleared, he wanted to smack himself for ruining what had been happening. He tried to wipe at his eyes with his uninjured hand, but Liam had his arm trapped with the way he was holding him. His hands warm and comforting on his back as they came to rest on the dip above his bum helped to relieve some of the pain and anxiety coursing through him.

Zayn lifted his head to look at Liam, concerned coffee-coloured eyes tracing over his face. Leaning in, he kissed Liam gently, lips barely brushing as Liam’s hands tightened, fingers sliding down to dig into his bum. Zayn moved his head to press a kiss to Liam’s neck, licking gently before nipping at the skin there. Liam tugged him closer, their groins rubbing together making Zayn’s brain get onboard with the position they were in.

“Drawer,” Zayn whispered against Liam’s neck. “Please.”

Liam wrapped one arm around Zayn’s waist and moved them together so he was leaning back against the headboard before stretching his arm out to get lube and condoms out of the drawer. “They’re unopened,” he noted.

“Yeah. Been awhile, but they’re not expired; I checked,” Zayn said, sucking at Liam’s shoulder. “Get moving. I want you to fuck me just like this, please.” His voice was soft and pleading, as he rolled his hips against him, their precome soaked cocks slipping against each other too easily for there to be any real friction.

Instead of answering, Liam kissed him, teasing his lips with the tip of his tongue as he fumbled to open the lube, coating his fingers. Reaching behind Zayn, he pressed in with two fingers easily, smiling as Zayn began to move against him, rocking between his cock and his fingers. 

“More,” Zayn growled, his movements changing to bouncing as Liam introduced a third finger, watching Zayn’s face for any sign of pain, but only seeing his face go slack around a deep sigh. “Wanna ride you,” he mumbled. “‘M ready.”

Liam didn’t waste time grabbing the condom and putting the corner of the packet in his mouth to tear it open. He loathed the idea of pulling his fingers out of the tight clamp of Zayn’s arse, but he couldn’t put the condom on one-handed. Zayn’s eyes blinked as he looked between the package and Liam’s cock. “Hurry,” he said, raising himself up as much as he could until just the tips of Liam’s fingers were stretching his rim.

Taking the hint, Liam slid his fingers out and made quick work of rolling the condom on while Zayn wrestled with the lube to coat Liam’s cock once it was in place. Throwing the bottle aside, Zayn looked at Liam, lip pulled between his teeth. 

Liam grasped his cock, rubbing the head against Zayn’s pucker, wanting to take it slow, despite knowing he’d prepped him thoroughly. Zayn whined, trying to drop down, but Liam stopped him with a tight grip on his hip. “Slow, babe,” Liam whispered, pulling Zayn down just enough for the head of his cock to pop past the rim, pushing a quiet sigh out of him. 

By the time Zayn was fully seated on Liam’s cock, he had tears in his eyes. Liam reached up and brushed away his tears with his thumb. “Do we need to stop?” Zayn shook his head but still held himself very still over Liam. 

While he waited for Zayn to adjust, Liam pressed gentle kisses against every inch of skin he could reach, feeling when Zayn’s body relaxed. When Zayn’s thigh muscles tightened and he raised himself up, Liam was ready to cry himself at the slow drag on his cock. He told himself he would let Zayn set the pace, leaning back on his elbows and smiling up at Zayn as he switched between moving up and down and subtle rolls of his hips. 

After one move, Zayn threw his head back, mouth dropping open around a moan. He repeated the motion as Liam used one hand to grasp his hip and the other to stroke Zayn’s cock. “So beautiful,” he whispered, breath leaving him when Zayn’s head came up and a bright smile overtook his face. 

“Not going to last much longer,” Zayn whispered. Liam grinned, knowing if he outlasted Zayn, it wouldn’t be for long. “Don’t laugh. It’s been a while.” He ran his hands down Liam’s chest, fingers tangling in his chest hair as he dropped into Liam’s lap and gasped, barely rocking his hips up into Liam’s hands as he leaned in, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and kissing him.

The kiss devolved into simply breathing against each other as Liam thrust up into Zayn, hitting him in all the right places until he spilt over Liam’s hand. The tightening around Liam’s cock, the increase in the heat he was driving into pulled his own orgasm out of him. Burying his face into Zayn’s neck, biting into the tendon that ran along there. 

Once they’d both come down, Liam helped Zayn up off his lap to lay him down next to him on the bed before excusing himself to the loo to remove the condom and grab a washcloth to clean himself and Zayn off. Once they were cleaned up, he crawled under the covers, lying back as Zayn curled up with his head on Liam’s chest, pressing a kiss right in the centre before drifting off. 

Liam listened to him breathe while he ran his fingers through his hair, thinking about how much had changed for them since they’d met. Reaching up with his other hand, he traced a finger over Zayn’s lashes where they laid against his cheeks. Zayn mumbled something against his chest, making Liam laugh and relax completely. “Good night, Zayn,” he whispered, closing his eyes and allowing the warmth of the body next to him to lull him into sleep.

***

Zayn woke slowly, sweating and pushing away the blanket that was over him. He shot straight up in bed when the pillow he was curled up against laughed. Shaking his head, he blinked open his eyes and looked down at Liam who had his hands behind his head and was watching Zayn with a fond smile on his face. “G’morning,” Zayn mumbled, leaning over and kissing the tip of Liam’s nose.

Liam’s smile grew even bigger until his cheeks ached. He pulled Zayn down atop of him, pressing their lips together before they jerked apart, both wrinkling their noses and moving off of the bed and toward the bathroom. 

Standing beside each other, they brushed their teeth in silence, eyes locked on each other in the mirror. Once they’d finished brushing and rinsing, they turned to each other and shared the kiss they’d attempted in the bedroom. Stumbling, they fell against the wall next to the open door, giggling into each other’s mouths as they continued into the room and back to the bed, never stopping their kiss.

They rolled on the bed, laughing and kissing until Zayn was underneath Liam, their hips rocking together. Liam was reaching for the lube and condoms that were still on the bed in the blankets when the door to the room burst open, Louis storming into the room. “Why did I have to hear from Gabriel that you were trapped in- Holy shit!” He came to an abrupt halt, slapping his hand over his eyes as he backed out of the room, apologizing, bumping into the wall several times before he was out, yanking the door shut.

“They’re shagging!” he shouted down the hall.

Zayn pressed his face into Liam’s chest that was shaking with laughter. “I really need a lock on my door.”

Liam tilted his face up to his, grinning. “I can fix that,” he told him before leaning down to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe it's over. Hope it was everything you were hoping for.
> 
> I'm almost finished with my next fic and plan on posting that in April sometime and after that, I'll be working on Sterek Bingo, but have no fear, I am not leaving Ziam behind because I have way too much WIPs in my folder to do that and I love these boys far too much.
> 
> Thanks again for everything!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments if you're enjoying the fic! :D
> 
> Or come on over and say hi to me on tumblr! I'm [josjournal](http://josjournal.tumblr.com).


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